IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


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IIIM 

m 


m 

1.8 


1.25      1.4 

1.6 

^ 6"     — 

► 

Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

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lA 


I 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICMH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


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i 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  whicit  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checited  below. 


D 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagie 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur6e  et/ou  pelliculie 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  g6ographlques  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  blacit)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  cu  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


D 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
ReliA  avec  d'autres  documents 


□    Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serr^e  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  int^rieure 


D 


D 


Blanit  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajout^es 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  Atait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  At6  filmAes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  supplAmentaires; 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  ddtaiis 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  m6thode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquds  ci-dessous. 


I — I   Coloured  pages/ 


0 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 

Pages  restored  and/oi 

Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  peiiicuides 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxei 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachetdes  ou  piqudes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  d6tach6es 


I — I  Pages  damaged/ 

I — I  Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 

r-~Y  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 

I — ]  Pages  detached/ 


□    Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

□    Quality  of  print  varies/ 
Quality  in6gale  de  I'impression 

□    Includes  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppldmen 


Comprend  du  materiel  suppldmentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiillement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6tA  filmAes  A  nouveau  de  fapon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


Th 
to 


pc 
of 
fil 


Oi 
bfl 
th 
8i( 
ot 
fir 
sii 
or 


Jt 
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Tl 
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M 
di 
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re 
m 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checltud  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film6  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqu*  ci-destous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


y 


28X 


30X 


12X 


16X 


aox 


24X 


28X 


32X 


Th«  copy  filmed  hers  hat  ba«n  reproduced  ihankt 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


L'exemplaire  filmA  fut  reproduit  grAce  A  la 
g6nAro8itA  de: 

Library  Division 

Provincial  Archives  of  British  Columbia 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Las  images  suivantes  ont  At6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
de  la  nettetA  de  l'exemplaire  film6,  et  en 
conformit6  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimis  sont  filmis  en  commengant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
derniAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmAs  en  commenpant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derniAre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — ^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "I,  or  the  symbol  y  (meaning   "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  —^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
iinginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
filmis  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  film6  A  partir 
de  Tangle  supArieur  gauche,  de  gauche  A  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  nAcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mAthode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


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SKOKO'/!^0H     ACiENCY 


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TEN   YEARS 


OF 


MISSIONARY   WORK 


AMONG    THE    INDIANS 


AT 


SKOKOMISH,  WASHINGTON  TERRITORY. 
1874-1884. 

By    Rev.   M.   EELLS, 

Missionary  of  the  American  Missionary  Association. 


BOSTON : 

Congrtijntional  *untiag=Scl)ool  anli  }^ublisl)tng  Sorietj, 

CONGRKGATIONAL  HOUSK, 

CORNEK  BSACON  AND  SOMERSET  STREETS. 


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torVRK.MT,   tSS'i,   IIY 
CONGKKOATIONAL  SL'NUAV-ai-UOUL  AND  rUBUSIIINti   SCXIETV. 


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F.lfctriHyf'cd  and  frintiif  hy 
Sianlty  b'  Usiur,  i-ji  Dn<oHihire  Strcil,  liosto 


DEDICATION. 


TO    MY   WIKK, 

SARAH     M.     KKIvLS, 

Who  has  been  my  companion  during  these  ten  years 
of  labor;  who  has  cheered  me,  and  made  a  Christian 
home  for  me  to  run  into  as  into  a  safe  hiding-place, 
and  who  has  been  an  example  to  the  Indians,  -—  these 
pages  are  affectionately  inscribed. 


2S15 


NOTE. 


Iff 


fi 


Much  of  the  information  contained  in  the  following  p.-igcs 
has  been  publislied,  especially  in  The  Atncrkan  Afissionary 
of  New  York  and  The  /\hi/h  of  San  Francisco.  Yet,  in 
writing  these  pages,  so  iiuich  of  it  has  been  altered  that  it 
has  been  impracticable  to  give  ([uoUtion-marks  and  acknowl- 
edgment for  each  item.  I  therefore  t.ikc  this  general  way 
01  acknowledging  my  indebtedness  to  those  publications. 


PREFACE. 


CAYS  Mrs.  J.  McNair  Wright :  "  If  the  church  can  only  be 
plainly  shown  the  need,  amount,  prospects,  and  methods 
of  work  in  any  given  field,  a  vital  interest  will  at  once  arise  in 
that  field,  and  money  for  it  will  not  be  lacking.  The  mis- 
sionary columns  in  our  religious  papers  do  not  supply  the 
information  needed  fully  to  set  our  missions  before  the  church. 
Our  home-mission  work  needs  to  be  '  written  up.'  The  for- 
eign field  has  found  a  large  increase  of  interest  in  its  labors 
from  the  numerous  books  that  have  been  written,  —  interest- 
inglywritten,  —  giving  descriptions  of  the  work,  the  countries 
where  the  missionaries  toil,  and  the  lives  of  tlie  missionaries 
themselves.  The  Pueblo,  the  Mormon,  and  the  American 
Indian  work  should  be  similarly  brought  before  the  church. 
A  book  gives  a  compact,  united  view  of  a  subject ;  the  same 
view  givi'n  monthly  or  weekly  ii:  the  columns  of  periodicals 
loses  much  of  its  force  and,  moreover,  is  much  less  likely  to 
meet  th'.  notice  of  the  young.  A  hearty  missionary  spirit 
will  be  had  in  our  church  only  when  we  furnish  our  youth 
with  more  books  on  missionary  themes."  * 

In  accordance  with  these  ideas  the  following  pages  have 
been  written. 

It  is  surprising  to  find  how  few  books  can  be  obtained  on 
missionary  work  among  the  Indians.  After  ten  years  of 
effort  the  writer  has  only  been  able   to  secure   twenty-six 

*  Among  the   Al.iskans,  pp.  371,  372. 


pki::face. 

books  on  such  work  in  the  ITnited  States,  and  five  of  these 
are  i8mo.  volumes  of  less  than  forty  pages  each.  Only  five 
of  these  have  been  published  within  the  last  fifteen  years. 
Books  on  the  adventurous,  scientific,  and  political  depart- 
ments of  Indian  life  r.re  numercs  aid  large ;  the  reverse  is 
true  of  the  missionary  depart.nent.  Hence  it  is  not  strange 
that  such  singular  ideas  j)redoniinate  among  the  American 
people  in  regartl  to  the  Indian  problem.  m.  e. 

Skokomisu,  Washington  THRRirokv,  August,  1884. 


„^,«-^»-*f[^| 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction       jj 

I. 
Skokomish I  c 

II. 

'    Preliminary  History       ...,•». 17 

III. 
Early  Religious  Teaching 21 

IV. 
Subsequent  Political  History 26 

V. 
The  Field  and  the  Work       28 

VI. 

Difficulties  in  the  Way  of  Religious  Work  .    .  3;^ 

(a)  Languages ,, 

(fi)  Their  Religion       -,7 

(t)  Besettin(;  Sins        r^ 

VII. 
Te.mi'erance 5q 

VIII. 
Industries       6q 

1 


..t^" 


■fffV^   J-  .    '- ,. .,„U ~ ^■-■l*-2.\.-'tiiL;!fK 


„!h*. 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

IX. 
Titles  to  their  Lands 74 

X. 
Mode  of  Living 82 

XL 
Names 85 

XIL 
Education       87 

Fourth  ok  July 93 

XIV. 
Christmas       97 

'XV. 
Variety 100 

XVL 

^L\KRL\(^E  AND  DIVORCE  IO5 

.WII. 

Sickness ii8 

XVI I L 
Funerals ,    .    .     122 

XLK. 
The  Census  of  1880 132 

\X. 
The  Lm-luenck  ok  the  Whites 144 

XXL 
The  Cnn<(  h  at  Skokomish '     140 


CONTENTS.  Ix 

XXII. 
Big  Bill i^8 

XXIII. 
Dark  Days 163 

xxiv. 

Light  Breaking       170 

XXV. 
The  First  Battle       172 

XXVI. 
The  Victory        180 

XXVII. 
Reconstruction       184 

XXVIII. 
John  Foster  Palmer 188 

XXIX. 
M F ,91 

XXX. 

i>iscouraging  Cases  and  Disappointme.nts    ...     195 

X.XXI. 
The  Church  at  Jamestown 200 

XXXII. 
Cook  House  Billy' 209 

X.XXIII. 
Lord  James  Balch       214 

XXXIV. 
Touring 216 


X  CONTENTS. 

XXXV. 
The  Riri.k  and  Other  Hooks 2->i 

XXXVI. 

Bible  Pictures 2^7 

XXXVII 

The  SAnHATH-ScHOoi jm 

XXXVIII. 
Praver-Meetin(;s j.. 

XXXIX. 

Indian  Hymns ^.. 

-44 
XL. 

Native  Ministrv  and  .Sci'I'ort     .......    256 

XLI. 
Tobacco 260 

XLII. 

^'■'^'^ 263 

XLIII. 

CCKKANT  JkI.I.V -,gj, 

XLIV. 

CONCLUSIOS 27c 


I 

I 
f 


INTRODUCTION. 


"  I  "HE    Indians   arc   in    our    midst.      Different 
-*'       solutions  of   the  problem    have   been   pro- 
posed.    It    is   evident   that   we   must   either   kill 
them,  move  them  away,  or  let  them  remain  with 
us.      The    civilization    and    Christianity    of    the 
United    States,  with   all    that    is   uncivilized   and 
un-Christian,  is  not  yet  ready  to  kill  them.     One 
writer  has  proposed  to  move  them  to  some  good 
country  which  Americans  do  not  want,  and  leave 
it  to  them.     We  have  been  trying  to  find  such  a 
place  for  a  century  —  have  moved  the  Indians  from 
one  reservation  to  another  and  from  one  State  or 
Territory  to  another ;  but  have  failed  to  find  the 
desired  haven  of  rest  for  them.     It  is  more  diffi- 
cult  to   find    it    now  than    it   ever   has   been,  as 
Americans    have   settled    in    every  part    of    the 
United  States  and  built  towns,  railroads,  and  tele- 
graph-lines all  over  the  country.     Hence  no  such 
place  has  been  found,  and  it  never  will  be. 

Therefore  the  Indians  arc  with  us  to  remain. 
They  are  to  be   our   neighbors.     The   remaining 

question  is,  Shall  they  be  good  or  bad  ones }     If 

u 


12 


INTRODUCTION. 


I» 


we  arc  willing  that  they  shall  be  bad,  all  that  is 
necessary  is  for  good  people  to  neglect  them  ;  for 
were  there  no  evil  influences  connected  with  civ- 
ilization {!),  they  would  not  rise  from  their  degra- 
dation, ignorance,  and  wickedness  without  help. 
When,  however,  we  add  to  their  native  heathen- 
ism all  the  vices  of  intemperance,  immorality, 
hate,  and  the  like,  which  wicked  men  naturally 
carry  to  them,  they  will  easily  and  cpiickly  become 
very  bad  neighbors.  Weeds  will  grow  where 
nothing  is  cultivated. 

If  we  wish  them  to  become  good  ncighl)ors, 
something  must  be  done.  Good  seeds  must  bo 
sown,  watched,  cultivated.  People  may  call  them 
savage,  ignorant,  treacherous,  superstitious,  ami 
the  like.  I  will  not  deny  it.  In  the  language  of 
a  j)opular  writer  of  the  day:  "The  remedy  for 
ignorance  is  education  ;"  likewise  for  heathenism, 
superstition,  and  treachery,  it  is  the  gospel.  White 
people  can  not  keep  the  civilization  which  they 
already  have  without  the  school  and  the  church  ; 
and  Indians  are  nut  so  much  abler  and  better  that 
they  can  be  raised  to  become  good  neighbors 
without  the  same. 

Imprcs.sed  with  this  belief,  the  writer  has  been 
engaged  for  the  past  ten  years  in  missionary  work 


TEN    YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


n 


with  a  few  of  them  in  the  region  of  Skokomish, 
and  here  presents  a  record  of  some  of  the  expe- 
riences. In  the  account  he  has  recorded  failures 
as  well  as  successes.  In  his  earlier  ministry, 
both  among  whites  and  Indians,  he  read  the 
accounts  of  other  similar  workers,  who  often  re- 
corded only  their  success.  It  was  good  in  its 
place,  for  something  was  learned  of  the  causes  of 
the  success.  Ikit  too  much  of  this  was  discour- 
aging. He  was  not  always  successful  and  some- 
times wondered  if  these  writers  were  ever  disap- 
pointed as  much  as  he  was.  Sometimes  when  he 
read  the  record  of  a  failure  it  did  him  more  good 
than  a  record  of  a  success.  Me  took  courage 
because  he  felt  that  he  was  not  the  only  one  who 
sometimes  failed.  The  Bible  records  failures  as 
well  as  successes. 


f 


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TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


I. 

SKOKOMISH. 


^  I  ^HE  Skokomish  Reservation  is  situated  in 
■*■  the  western  part  of  Washington  Territory, 
near  the  head  of  Hood's  Canal,  the  western 
branch  of  Paget  Sound.  It  is  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Skokomish  River,  The  name  means  "the 
river  people,"  from  l^aw,  a  river,  in  the  Twana 
language,  which  in  the  word  has  been  changed  to 
Xv.  It  is  the  largest  river  which  empties  into 
Hood's  Canal ;  hence,  that  band  of  the  Twana 
tribe  which  originally  lived  here  were  called  f/ic 
river  people.  The  Twana  tribe  was  formerly  com- 
l)osed  of  three  bands  :  the  Du-hlay-lips,  who  lived 
fourteen  miles  fartli«r  up  the  canal,  at  its  extreme 
head  ;  the  Skokomish  band,  who  lived  about  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  the  Kol-sccds,  or  Quil- 
ccnes,  who  lived  thirty  or  forty  miles  farther 
down  the  canal.  The  dialects  of  these  three 
bands  vary  slightly. 


J) 

i  • 


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i6 


77;.V   )7;./A'.S'  .//•  SKOKOMISJf. 


.-•^ 


When  the  treaty  was  made  by  the  United 
States  in  1855,  the  land  about  the  mouth  of  the 
Siiokomish  River  was  seleeted  as  the  reserva- 
tion ;  the  other  bands  in  time  moved  to  it,  and 
the  post-office  was  given  the  same  name  ;  lienee, 
the  tribe  came  to  be  known  more  as  the  Skok'- 
mish  Indians  than  by  their  original  name  f 
Tu-iin-hu,  a  name  which  has  been  changed  by 
whites  to  Twana,  and  so  appears  in  government 
reports. 

The  reservation  is  small,  hardly  three  miles 
square,  comprising  about  five  thousand  acres, 
nearly  two  thousand  of  which  is  excellent  bottom 
land.  As  much  more  is  hilly  and  gravelly,  and 
the  rest  is  swamp  land.  With  the  exception  of 
the  latter,  it  is  covered  with  timber. 


§■ 


AT 
a; 


IT. 


PRELIMINARY  HISTORY. 


^ 


1  "VER  since  the  Spanish  traders  and  Vancou- 
-* — '  vcr  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century, 
and  the  Northwest  T'ur  Company  and  Hudson's 
liay  Corrpany  in  the  early  part  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, came  to  Pugct  Sound,  these  Indians  have 
had  some  intercourse  with  the  whites,  and  learned 
some  things  about  the  white  man's  ways,  his  Sab- 
bath, his  Bible,  and  his  God.  Eort  Nisqually,  one 
of  the  posts  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  was 
situated  about  fifty  miles  from  Skokomish,  so  that 
these  Indians  were  comparatively  near  to  it. 

About  1850,  Americans  began  to  settle  on  Puget 
Sound.  In  1853  Washington  was  set  off  from  Ore- 
gon and  organized  into  a  territory,  and  in  1855 
the  treaty  was  made  with  these  Indians.  Gov- 
ernor I.  I.  Stevens  and  Colonel  M.  C.  Simmons 
represented  the  government,  and  the  three  tribes 
of  the  Twanas,  Chemakunis,  and  S'klallams  were 
the  parties  of  the  other  part.  The  Chemakums 
were  a  small  tribe,  lived  near  where  Port  Town- 

17 


i8 


TES^  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


send  now  is,  and  are   now   extinct.     The    S'klal- 
lams,  or  Clallams  (as  the  name  has  since  become), 
lived  on  the  south  side  of   the  Straits    of   Inica, 
from  Port  Townsend   westward    almost    to   Neah 
Bay,  and  were  b\   far  the  largest   and    strongest 
tribe  of  the  three.     It  was  expected  that  all  the 
tribes  would  be  removed  to  the  reservation.     The 
government,  however,  was  to  furnish  the  means  for 
doing  so,  but  it  was  never  done,  and  as  the  Clal- 
lams and   Twanas   were   never   on    very  friendly 
teims,  there  having  beeii  many  murders  between 
them  in  early  days,  the  Clallams  have  not  come 
voluntarily  to  it,  but  remain  in  different  places  in 
the  region  of  their  old  homes.     The  reservation, 
about  three  miles  square,  also  was  too  small  for  all 
of  the  tribes,  it  having  been  said  that  twenty-eight 
hundred  Indians  belonged  to  them  when  the  treaty 
was  made.     There  were  certainly  no  more. 

The  treaty  has  been  known  as  that  of  I'oint-No- 
Toint,  it  having  been  made  at  that  i)lace,  a  few 
miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  Hood's  Canal  on  the 
main  sound,  in  1855.  It  wa.s,  however,  four  years 
later  when  it  was  ratified,  and  another  year  before 
the  machinery  was  put  in  motion,  so  that  govern- 
ment employees  were  .sent  to  the  reservation  to 
teach  the  Indians.     In  the  meantime  the  Yakama 


PKELIMINAK  r   II/S  TOR  Y. 


19 


War  took  place,  the  most  wide-s/read  Indian  war 
which  ever  occurred  on  this  north-west  coast,  it 
having  begun  almost  simultaneou.^ly  in  Southern 
Oregon,  Eastern  Oregon,  and  Washington,  and  on 
Puget  Sound.  The  Indians  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  sound  were  engaged  in  it,  but  the  Clallams 
and  Twanas  as  tribes  did  not  do  so,  and  never 
have  been  engaged  in  any  war  with  the  whites. 
They  were  related  by  marriage  with  some  of  the 
tribes  who  were  hostile,  and  a  few  individuals  from 
one  or  both  of  these  tribes  went  to  the  eastern  side 
of  the  sound  and  joined  the  hostiles,  but  as  tribes 
they  lemaineci  peaceable. 


A    WAR    INXIDENT. 

The  Clallams  were  a  strong  tribe,  and  large 
numbers  of  them  lived  at  an  early  day  about  Port 
Townsend.  Here,  too,  was  the  Duke  of  York, 
who  was  for  many  years  their  head  chief  and  a 
noted  friend  of  the  Americans.  About  1850,  he 
went  to  San  Francisco  on  a  sailing-vessel,  and 
saw  the  numbers,  and  realized  something  of  the 
power,  of  the  whites.  After  his  return  the 
Indians  became  very  much  enraged  at  the  resi- 
dents of  Port  Townsend,  who  were  few  in  num- 
bers, and  the  savages  were  almost  all  ready  to 


20 


7'/:.v  y/-:.tA'^  at  sa'oa'oj//s//. 


engage  in  war  with  them.  Had  they  done  so, 
they  could  easily  have  wiped  out  the  place,  and 
the  white  people  knew  it.  The  Indians  were 
ready  to  do  so,  but  the  Duke  cf  York  stood 
between  the  Indians  and  the  whites.  For  hours 
the  savage  mass  surged  to  and  fro,  hungry  for 
blood,  the  Duke  of  York's  brother  being  among 
the  number.  For  as  many  hours  the  Duke  of 
York  alone  held  them  from  going  uny  farther,  by 
his  eloquence,  telling  them  of  the  numbers  and 
power  of  the  whiles ;  and  that  if  the  Indians 
should  kill  these  whites,  others  would  come  and 
wipe  them  out.  At  last  they  yielded  to  him.  He 
saved  Port  To\7nscnd  and  saved  his  tribe  from  a 
war  with  the  whites. 

In  i860  the  first  government  employees  were 
sent  to  Skokomish,  and  civilizing  influences  of  a 
kind  were  brought  more  closely  to  the  Indians. 
With  one  or  two  exceptions,  very  little  religious 
influence  was  brought  to  bear  upon  them.  Of  one 
of  their  agents,  Mr.  J.  Kno.x,  the  Indians  speak 
in  terms  of  gratitude  and  praise.  He  set  out  a 
large  orchard,  and  did  ccmsiderable  to  improve 
them.  In  1870,  when  all  the  Indians  were  put 
under  the  military,  these  Indians  were  put  un^ler 
Lieutenant  Kelley.  The  Indians  do  not  speak 
well  of  military  rule.     It  was  too  tyrannical. 


III. 


EARLY   RELIGIOUS   TEACHING. 


A  BOUT  1850  Father  E.  C.  Chirouse,  a  Cath- 
■^^-  olic  priest,  came  to  Puget  Sound,  and  for  a 
time  was  on  Hood's  Canal.  He  had  two  missions 
among  the  Twanas,  one  among  the  Kolseed  band, 
and  the  other  among  the  Duhlaylips.  He  baptized 
a  large  number  of  them ;  made  two  Indian  priests, 
and  left  an  influence  which  was  not  soon  forgotten. 
At  a  council  held  after  a  time  by  various  tribes, 
the  Skokomish  and  other  neighboring  tribes  of 
the  lower  eastern  sound  were  too  strong  for  the 
Twanas  and  induced  Father  Chirouse  to  leave 
them.  Not  long  afterward  the  Indians  relapsed 
into  their  old  style  of  religion,  and  on  the  surface 
it  appeared  as  if  all  were  forgotten  :  but  when  Prot- 
estant teachers  came  among  them,  and  their  old 
religion  died,  some  of  the  Indians  turned  for  a 
time  to  that  Catholic  religion  which  they  had  first 
learned,  as  one  easier  for  the  natural  heart  to 
follow  than  that  of  the  Protestants. 

From  i860  to  1871  but  little  religious  instruc- 


22 


TE.V   YI-'AKS  AT  SA'OA'OAf/S//. 


u 

?  ■ 

I 


tion  was  given  to  these  Indians.  At  different 
times  Rev.  W.  C.  Chattin,  of  the  Methodist  I".i)i.s- 
eopal  Church,  and  Mr.  D.  K  Ward,  of  the  Protest- 
ant Methodist  Church,  taught  the  school,  and  each 
endeavored  to  give  some  Christian  teaching  on  the 
Sabbath,  but  they  found  it  hard  work,  for  Sabbath- 
breaking,  house-building,  trafficking,  and  gambling 
by  the  whites  and  the  Indians  were  allowed  in 
sight  and  hearing  of  the  place  where  the  services 
were  held.  "  If  it  is  wrong  to  break  the  Sabbath, 
why  does  the  agent  do  so.!*"  "If  it  is  wrong  to 
play  cards  and  gamble,  why  do  the  whites  do  so .' " 
These  and  similar  questions  were  asked  by  the 
Indian  children  of  their  Christian  teachers.  It 
was  .somewhat  difficult  to  answer  them.  It  was 
more  difficult  to  work  against  such  influences. 
Still  the  seed  sown  then  was  not  wholly  lost.  It 
remaintd  buried  a  long  time.  I  have  seen  that 
some  of  tho.se  children,  however,  although  they 
forgot  how  to  read,  and  almost  forgot  how  to  talk 
Knglish,  yet  received  influences  which,  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  afterward,  made  them  a  valuable 
help  to  their  people  in  their  march  upward. 

In  1871,  however,  a  decided  change  was  made.' 
In  that  year  President  Grant  adopted   what   has 
been  known  as  the  peace  policy,  in  which  he  as- 


EARLY  RELIGIOUS    TEACHING. 


n 


different 
ist  r:pis- 
:  Protest- 
and  each 
ig  on  the 
Sabbat  h- 
rambliii'^ 
owed  in 
services 
Sabbath, 
i^rong  to 
do  so  ? " 

by  the 
lers.     It 

It  was 
iuences. 
ost.  It 
en  that 
^h   thev 

to  talk 
"teen  or 
'ahiable 
rd. 

i  made.  * 
lat   has 

he  as- 


signed the  different  agencies  to  different  mission- 
ary societies,  asking  them  to  nominate  agents, 
promising  that  these  should  be  confirmed  by  the 
Senate.  While  it  was  not  expected  that  the  gov- 
ernment would  directly  engage  in  missionary  work, 
yet  the  President  realized  that  Christianity  was 
necessary  to  the  solution  of  the  Indian  problem, 
and  he  hoped  that  the  missionary  societies  who 
should  nominate  these  agents  would  become  inter- 
ested in  the  work,  and  encouraged  them  to  send 
missionaries  to  their  several  fields.  These  agents 
were  expected  to  cooperate  with  the  missionaries 
in  their  special  work. 

At  that  time  the  Skokomish  Agency  was  assigned 
to  the  American  Missionary  Association,  a  society 
supported  by  the  Congregationalists.  In  1871 
they  nominated  Mr.  lulwin  Eclls  as  agent  for  this 
place,  who  was  confirmed  by  the  Senate,  and  in 
May  of  that  year  he  took  charge  of  these  Indians. 

Mr.  Eclls  was  the  oldest  son  of  Rev.  C.  Eclls, 
n.i).,  WHO  came  to  the  coast  in  1838  as  a  mission- 
ary to  the  Spokane  Indians,  where  he  remained- 
about  ten  years,  until  the  Whitman  Massacre  and 
Cayuse  War  rendered  it  unsafe  for  him  to  remain 
there  any  longer.  The  agent  was  born  among 
these  Indians  in    July,   1841.     Like   most   young 


24 


TEX   VEAKS  AT  Sh'OA'OMES/E 


men  on  this  coast,  he  had  been  engaged  in  various 
callings.  He  had  been  a  farmer,  school-teacher, 
clerk  in  a  store,  teamster,  had  served  as  enrolling 
officer  for  government  at  Walla-Walla  during  the 
war,  and  had  studied  law.  At  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  had  united  with  a  Congregational  '^hurch,  and 
had  maintained  a  consistent  Christian  character. 
All  of  these  things  provetl  to  be  of  good  service  to 
him  in  Ids  new  position,  where  education,  farm- 
work,  purchase  of  goods,  law  business,  intercourse 
with  government,  the  ideas  which  he  had  received 
from  his  parents  about  the  Indians  and  Christian- 
ity, were  all  needed. 

» 

In  1 87 1,  soon  after  he  assumed  his  new  duties, 
he  began  a  Sabbath-school  and  prayer-meeting. 
He  selected  Christian  men  as  employees.  These 
consisted  of  a  physician,  school-teacher,  and  matron, 
carpenter,  farmer,  and  blacksmith.  He  also  se- 
lected men  with  families  as  being  those  who  would 
be  likely  to  have  the  best  influence  on  the  Indians. 
In  1872  Rev.  J.  Casto,  M.n.,  was  engaged  as  gov- 
ernment jihysician,  and  Rev.  C.  l^ells,  the  father 
of  the  agent,  went  to  live  with  his  son,  and  l).)th 
during  the  winter  preached  at  the  agency  anil  in 
the  camps  of  the  Indians.  During  1874  a  council- 
house  was  built,  with  the  consent  of  government, 


EARLY  KELIGIOUS   TEACHING. 


25 


at  a  money-cost  to  the  government  of  five  hundred 
dollars  —  besides  the  work  which  was  done  by  the 
government  carpenter.     This  has  since  been  used 
as   a   church,  and    sometimes  as   a   school-house. 
During  that  spring  it  was  thought  best  to  organ- 
ize a  cluirch,  for  although  at  first  it  would  be  com- 
posed chiefly  of  v/hites,  yet  it  was  hoi:)ed  that  it 
would  have  a  salutary  influence  on   the   Indians, 
and  be  a  nucleus  around  which  some  of  the  In- 
dians would  gather.     This  was  done  June  23,  1874, 
the  day  after  the  writer  arrived  at  the  place.     It 
was  organized  with  eleven  members,  ten  of  whom 
were  whites,   and  one,   John    F.  Palmer,  was   an 
Indian.     He    was   at    that   time    government    in- 
terpreter.    The  sermon   was   by  Rev.  G.  II.  At- 
kinson, D.D.,  of  Portland,  superintendent  of  Home 
Missions  for  Oregon  and  Washington,  and  one  of 
the  vice-presidents  of   the    American    Missionary 
Association  ;    the  prayer  of  consecration  by  Rev. 
E.  Walker,  who  had  been  the  missionary  associate 
of  Rev.  C.  I^clls  during  his  work  among  the  Spo- 
kane Indians  ;   the    right    hand   of   fellowship   by 
Rev.  A.  H.  Pradford,  a  visitor  on  this  coast  from 
Montclair,  New   Jersey  ;   and  the  charge    to   the 
church  by  the  writer.     Thus  affairs  existed  when 
I  came  to  the  place. 


I  : 


IV. 


II* 


SUBSEQUENT   POLITICAL   HISTORY. 

AS  far  as  the  government  was  concerned,  affairs 
remained  much  the  same  until  1880.  Then 
the  time  agreed  upon  by  the  treaty  for  wliich 
appropriations  were  to  be  made  —  twenty  years 
—  expired.  By  special  appropriation  affairs  *vere 
carried  on  for  another  year,  however,  as  usual.  In 
July,  1 88 1,  the  government  ordered  that  the  car- 
penter, blacksmith,  and  farmer  be  discharged,  and 
Indian  employees  be  put  in  their  places.  Some 
of  these  were  afterwartl  discharged.  The  next 
year  the  three  agencies  on  the  sound,  the  Tula- 
lip,  Nisqually,  and  Skokomish,  were  consolidated 
enough  to  put  them  under  one  agent,  withcmt, 
however,  moving  the  Indians  in  any  way.  The 
three  agencies  comprised  ten  reservations,  which 
were  under  the  missionary  instruction  of  the  Pres- 
byterians, Congregationalists,  and  Catholics.  By 
the  consolidation  there  was  to  be  no  interfcretice 
with  the  religious  affairs  of  the  Indians.  Mr.  Iv 
Eells,  the  agent  at  Skokomish,  was  selectetl  as  the 


II 


SUBSEQUENT  POLITICAL  HISTORY. 


27 


one  who  was  to  have  charge  of  all,  but  his  head- 
quarters were  moved  to  the  Tulalip  Agency, 
which  was  under  the  religious  control  of  the 
Catholics.  Thus,  after  more  than  eleven  years  of 
residence  at  Skokomish,  he  departed  from  the 
place ;  after  which  he  usually  returned  about  once 
in  three  months  on  business.  A  year  later  this 
large  agency  was  divided  ;  the  five  Catholic  reser- 
vations were  set  off  into  an  agency,  and  the  five 
Protestant  reservations  were  continued  under  the 
control  of  Mr.  Eells,  whose  head-quarters  were 
moved  to  the  Puyallup  Reservation,  near  Tacoma. 


L 


I  i 


V. 


*•■  ■  «♦ 


itSf 


^11 


^i! 


THE   FIELD   AND  WORK. 

'T^IIE  work  has  been  about  as  follows:  At 
■^  Skokomish  there  were  about  two  hundred 
Indians,  including  a  boarding-school  of  about 
twenty-five  children.  Services  were  held  every 
Sabbath  morning  for  them  in  Indian.  The  Sab- 
bath-school was  kept  up,  immediately  following 
the  morning  service.  ICnglish  services  were  held 
once  or  twice  a  month,  on  Sabbath  evening,  for 
the  white  families  resident  at  the  agency  and  the 
school-children.  On  Thursday  evening  a  prayer- 
meeting  was  held  regularly.  It  was  in  I^nglish, 
as  very  few  of  the  non-P^nglish-speaking  Indians 
lived  near  enough  to  attend  an  evening  .service, 
had  they  been  so  inclined.  Various  other  meet- 
ings were  held,  adapted  to  the  capacities  and 
localities  of  the  people :  as  prayer-meetings  for 
school-boys,  tho.se  for  school-girls,  and  those  at 
the  different  logging-camps. 


Thirty 


miles  north  of  Skokomish   is   Seabeck, 


where  about  thirty  Indians  live,   most    of  who 


m 


f» 


THE  ithi.n  .i.\n  work. 


29 


at 


gain  a  living  by  working  in  the  saw-mill  there. 
For  several  years  I  preached  to  the  whites  at  this 
place,  about  eight  times  a  year,  and  when  there, 
also  held  a  service  with  the  Indians. 

Twenty  miles  farther  north  is  Port  Gamble,  one 
of  the  largest  saw-mill  towns  on  the  sound.  Near 
it  were  about  a  hundred  Clallam  Indians,  most  of 
whom  became  Catholics,  but  who  have  generally 
received  me  cortlially  when  I  have  visited  them 
two  or  three  times  a  year.  They,  however,  have 
obtained  whiskey  very  easily,  and  between  this 
and  the  Catholic  influence  comparatively  little 
has  been  accomplished. 

Thirty-five  miles  farther  on  is  Port  Discovery, 
another  saw-mill  town,  where  thirty  or  forty 
Indians  have  lived,  whom  I  have  often  called  to 
see  on  my  journeys  ;  but  so  much  whiskey  has 
been  sold  near  them  ami  to  them,  that  it  has  been 
almost  impossible  to  stop  their  drinking,  and 
hence,  very  dilTicult  to  make  much  permanent 
religious  impression  on  them.  By  death  and 
removal  for  misconduct,  their  number  has  dimin- 
ished so  that  at  one  time  there  were  only  one  or 
two  families  left.  But  the  opi)ortunity  for  work 
at  the  mill  has  been  so  !;ooil  that  some  i)f  a  fair 
class  have  returned  and  bouirht  kuul  and  settled 


down. 


30 


TKX   VL-.AKS  Al'  SAOKOMIS/I. 


■♦f 


^irt 


! 

^: 

' 

t 

ii 

'         *■ 

»! 

i      ! 

H  :' 

i 

' 

■i 

P 

(  '. 

si 

I 

t», 

> 

£ 

t-- 

!l4»' 

.u 


Forty  miles  from  Port  Gamble,  and  seventeen 
from  Tort  Discovery,  is  Jamestown,  near  I)un- 
gincss,  on  the  Straits  of  I'uca.  This  is  the  center 
of  an  Indian  settlement  of  abont  a  iuindred  and 
forty.  Previous  to  1873  these  Indians  were  very 
much  addicted  to  drinking  —  so  much  so,  that  the 
white  residents  near  them  i)etitioned  to  have 
them  removetl  to  the  agency,  a  i)unishment  they 
dreaded  nearly  as  much  as  any  other  that  could 
be  inflicted  on  them.  The  threat,  of  doing  this 
had  such  an  .  '^-'(^ncc  that  about  fifteen  of  them 
combined  and  bought  i...  liundretl  acres  of  land. 
It  has  been  laid  off  into  a  village  ;  most  of  the 
Indians  have  reformed,  and  they  have  settled 
down  as  peaceable,  induslvious,  moral  j)crsons.  I 
have  generally  visited  them  once  in  si.\  months, 
and  they  have  become  llie  most  advanced  of  the 
Clallam  tribe.  A  school  has  been  kept  among 
them,  a  church  organized,  and  their  progress  has 
been  quite  interesting  — .so  much  so,  that  consider- 
able space  will  be  devoted  to  them  in  the 
following  pages. 

Once  a  year  I  have  calculated  to  go  farther  : 
and  twenty  miles  beyond  is  Port  Angelos,  with 
about  thirty  nominal  Indian  residents.  But  few 
of  them  are  settlers,  and  they  are  diminishing, 
only  a  few  families  bein-  left. 


rill:    I'lEl.l)   AM)    WOKK, 


31 


I 


Seven  miles  further  west  is  Klkwa,  the  home  of 
about  seventy  Indians.  It  was,  in  years  past,  the 
residence  of  one  of  the  most  inlluential  bands  of 
the  Clallam  tril)e,  but  they  are  diminishing,  partly 
from  the  fact  thrt  there  have  been  but  few  white 
families  among  them  from  whom  they  could 
obtain  work,  and,  with  a  few  exceptions,  they 
themselves  have  done  but  liltle  about  cultivating 
the  soil.  As  they  could  easily  go  across  the 
straits  to  Victoria  in  British  Columbia,  about 
twenty  m.  s  distant,  where  there  is  little 
restraint  in  regard  to  their  procuring  whiskey, 
because  they  are  American  Indians,  they  have 
been  steadily  losing  influence  and  numbers. 
Four  or  five  families  have  homesteaded  land,  but 
as  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  procure  good  land 
on  the  beach,  they  have  gone  back  some  dis- 
tance and  are  scattered.  Hence  they  lose  the 
benefits  of  church  and  school.  Still  the  old 
way  of  herding  together  is  broken  up,  and  they 
obtain  more  t)f  their  living  from  civilized  pursuits. 

Thirty-five  miles  farther  is  Clallam  Bay,  the 
home  of  about  fifty  more.  This  is  the  limit  of 
the  Indians  connected  with  the  Skokomish 
Agency.  They  are  about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
miles   from    it,    as  we   have   to   travel.     In    1880 


32 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SK'OA'OM/SJI. 


\ 


;n 


they  bou{j;ht  a  hiindrccl  and  sixty  acres  of  land 
on  the  water-front,  and  are  slowly  following  the 
example  of  the  Jamestown  Indians.  This  is  the 
nearest  station  of  the  tribe  to  the  seal-fisheries  of 
the  north-west  coast  of  the  Territory  ;  by  far  the 
most  lucrative  business,  in  its  season,  which  the 
Indians  follow. 


and 
the 
the 
s  of 
the 
the 


VI. 


DIFFICULTIES    IN    THE    WAY    OF 
RELIGIOUS   WORK. 

00  LANGUAGES. 

/^NE  great  difficulty  in  the  missionary  work  is 
^-^  the  number  of  languages  used  l)y  the  peo- 
ple. The  Clallams  have  one,  the  Twanas  another; 
about  one  sixth  of  the  people  on  the  reservation 
had  originally  come  from  Squa.xin.  and  spoke  the 
Nisqually  ;  the  Chinook  jargon  is  an  inter-tribal 
language,  v;hich  is  spoken  by  nearly  all  the  In- 
dians, except  the  very  old  and  very  young,  as  far 
south  as  Northern  California,  north  into  Alaska, 
west  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  cast  to  Western 
Idaho.  It  was  made  by  the  early  traders,  espe- 
cially the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  out  of  Chin(H)k, 
I'Vench,  and  I^iiglish  words,  with  a  few  from  sev- 
eral other  Indian  languages,  for  use  in  trade.  It 
serves  very  well  for  this  purpose,  and  is  almost 
universally  used  in  intercourse  between  the  whitt^s 
and  Indians.  Very  few  whites,  even  when  married 
to    Indian    women,    have    learned     to    talk     any 


L.  J.iUUJL.u.>i^,>uini9Tiwai«  A  tm  iui«m.il 


34 


r/':.v  )■/■:. /A'.v  .//'  skok'omjsi/. 


\l 


if 


Indian  language  except  this.  V>\\t  it  is  not  very 
good  for  conveying  religions  instruction.  It  is  too 
meager.  Yet  so  many  different  languages  were 
spoken  by  the  seven  or  eight  hundred  Indians 
connected  with  the  agency  that  it  seemed  to  be 
the  only  practicable  one,  and  I  learned  it.  I  have 
learned  to  preach  in  it  tpiite  easily,  and  so  that 
the  Indians  say  they  understand  me  quite  well. 
The  Twana  language  would  have  been  quite  use- 
ful, but  it  is  said  to  be  so  difficult  to  learn  that  no 
intellitient  Indian  advised  me  to  learn  it.  The 
Nisqually  is  said  to  l>e  much  easier,  and  one  eilu- 
cated  Indian  advised  me  to  learn  it,  but  it  did  not 
seem  to  me  to  be  wise,  for  while  nearly  all  the 
Twana  Indians  understood  it,  as,  in  fact,  nearly  all 
the  Indians  on  the  upper  sound  do,  yet  it  was 
s()()ken  by  very  few  on  the  reservation. 

Hence  1  have  often  used  ;.a  interpreter  while 
preaching  on  the  Sabbath  at  Skokomish,  for  then 
usually  some  whites,  old  Indians,  and  children  were 
present  who  could  not  \inderstand  Chincjok.  At 
other  times  and  pbnes  [  con.stantly  used  the  Chi- 
nook language,  liut  a  good  interpreter  is  hard  to 
obtain.  "  It  Likes  a  minister  to  interpret  for  a 
mini.ster,"  was  said  wiu-n  Mr.  ILdl.'nb:  ck,  the 
evangelist,   went    to   the    .S-uidwich    I.siaiids,    ..ra 


DIFFICULTIES  LV   THE    IVAY. 


35 


there  is  much  truth  in  it.  The  first  interpreter 
I  had  v/as  good  at  heart,  but  he  used  the  Nis- 
qually  language.  While  most  of  them  understood 
it,  yet  this  person  had  learned  it  after  he  was 
grown,  and  spoke  it,  the  Indians  said,  much  like 
a  Dutchman  does  our  language.  Another  one,  a 
Twana,  cut  the  sentences  short,  so  that  one  of  the 
school-boys  said  he  could  have  hardly  understood 
all  that  I  said  had  he  not  understood  English. 
A  third  could  do  well  when  he  tried,  but  too 
many  times  he  felt  out  of  sorts  and  lazy,  and 
would  speak  very  low  and  without  much  life. 
ITence  sometimes  I  would  feel  like  dismissing 
ail  interpreters,  and  talking  in  Chinook,  but 
iii«;n  I  was  afraid  that  it  would  drive  away 
li  ,  v.'hitcs,  who  could  not  understand  it,  but 
wh>  .sc  presence,  for  their  examples'  sake,  I  much 
dcjired.  I  feared  also  that  it  would  drive  away 
tne  very  old  ones,  who  sometimes  made  much 
effort  to  come  to  church,  and  also  that  the  chil- 
dren, who.se  minds  were  the  most  susceptible  to 
impressions,  would  lose  all  that  was  said.  So 
thcr*-  were  difficulties  every  way. 

The  medley  of  services  ami  babel  of  languages 
of  one  Sabbath  are  described  as  follows :  The 
opening  exercises   were   in    English,  after   which 


rvp 


36 


TKX   VI-AKS  AT  SA'OK'OMIS//. 


i      u: 


was  the  sermon,  which  was  delivered  in  English, 
but  trans'  i\cl  into  the  Nisqually  language,  and  a 
prayer  was  .  1  in  the  same  manner.     At  the 

close  of  the  sci  vice  two  infants  were  baptized  in 
English,  when  followed  the  communion  service  in 
the  same  language.  At  this  there  were  present 
twelve  white  members  of  the  Con^rretrational 
church  here,  antl  one  Indian  ;  two  white  mem- 
bers of  the  Protestant  Methodist  church  ;  one 
Cumberland  Presbyterian,  and  one  other  Congre- 
gationalist.  There  were  also  present  about  sev- 
enty-five Indians  as  spectators.  The  Sabbath- 
school  was  held  soon  after,  seventy-five  persons 
being  present.  First,  there  were  four  songs  in 
the  Chinook  jargon  ;  then  three  in  llnglish,  ac- 
companied by  un  organ  and  violin.  The  prayer 
was  in  Nisqually,  and  tlie  lesson  was  read  by  all 
in  I'jiglish,  after  which  the  lessons  were  recited 
by  the  schrjlars.  ]-"ive  classes  of  Indian  children 
and  two  of  white  children  were  taught  in  I-'.nglish, 
and  one  class  partly  in  llnglish  and  partly  in  Chi- 
nook jargon.  There  was  one  Bible-class  of  Indian 
men  who  understood  b'.ni^lish,  and  were  taught  in 
that  language,  a  i)art  of  whom  could  read  and  a 
part  of  whom  could  not,  and  another  of  about 
forty  Indians  of  both  sexes  whose  teacher  talked 


DIFFICULTIES  IN  TIIF   WAY. 


37 


English,  but  an  interpreter  translated  it  into  Nis- 
qually  ;  and  then  they  did  not  reach  some  Clallam 
Indians.  Next  followed  a  meeting  of  the  Tem- 
perance Society,  as  six  persons  wished  to  join  it. 
A  white  man  who  could  do  so,  wrote  his  name,  and 
five  Indians  who  could  not,  touched  the  pen  while 
the  secretary  made  their  mark.  Three  of  these 
were  sworn  in  English  and  two  in  Chinook.  The 
whole  services  were  interspersed  with  singing  in 
English  and  Chinook  jargon. 

This  was  soon  after  I  came  here.  During  the 
past  year  we  have  often  sung  in  English,  Chinook 
jargon,  Twana,  and  Nisqually,  on  the  same  Sab- 
bath. Another  medley  Sabbath  is  given  under 
the  head  of  the  Jamestown  Church,  in  connection 
with  its  organization. 


{}))     THEIR   RELIGION. 

Another  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  their 
accepting  Christianity  is  their  religion.  The 
practical  part  of  it  goes  by  the  name  of  ta-uiaJi- 
iio-iis,  a  Chinook  word,  and  yet  so  much  more 
expressive  than  any  single  English  word,  or  even 
phra.se,  that  it  has  almost  become  Anglicized. 
Like  the  Wakan  of  the  Dakotas,  it  signifies  the 
supernatural  in  a  very  broad  sense.  There  are 
three  kinds  of  it. 


38 


TEX    YF.ARS  AT  Sh'Oh'OM/SI/. 


-i     'i^ 


First.  The  Black  Tamahnous.  This  is  a  secret 
society.  During  the  performance  of  the  cere- 
monies connected  with  it,  all  the  members  black 
their  faces  more  or  Ics.s,  and  go  through  a  number 
of  rites  more  savage  than  any  thing  else  they  do. 
They  do  not  tell  the  meaning  of  these,  but  they 
consist  of  .starving,  washing,  cutting  themselves, 
violent  dancing,  and  the  like.     It  was  introducetl 


Black  Tamailnols  Rattle. 

among  the  Twanas  from  the  Clallams,  who  prac- 
tised it  with  much  more  savage  rites  than  the 
former  tribe.  It  is  still  more  thoroughly  prac- 
tised by  the  Makahs  of  Cape  Flattery,  who  join 
the  Clallams  on  the  west.  It  was  never  as  popu- 
lar among  the  Twanas  as  among  some  other 
Indians,  and  is  now  practically  dead  among  them. 
It  still  retains  its  hold  among  a  portion  of  the 
Clallams,  being  i)ractised  at  their  greatest  gather- 
ings. It  is  believed  that  it  was  intended  to  be 
purifical,  sacrificial,  propitiatory. 


Dll'FlCCI.riES   /X    THE    WAY 


39 


Second.  The  Red,  or  Sing,  Tamahnous.  During 
t  .e  performance  of  its  ceremonies,  they  generally 
painted  their  faces  red.  It  was  their  main  cere- 
monial rehgion.  During  the  fall  and  winter  they 
as.sendiled,  had  feasts,  and  i)erformed  these  rites, 
danced  and  sang  their  sacred  songs;  it  might  be 
for  one  night,  or  it  might   be  for  a  week  or  so. 


BiKi)  Mask  Used  in  tiik  Black  Tamahnous  CEREMONn:s 
KV  riiK  Claij.ams. 

Sometimes  this  was  done  for  the  sake  of  purify- 
ing the  soul  from  sin.  Sometimes  in  a  vision  a 
l)erson  professed  to  have  seen  the  spirits  of  living- 
friends  in  the  world  of  departed  spirits,  which  was 
a  sure  sign  that  they  would  die  in  a  year  or  two, 
unless  those  spirits  could  be  brought  back  to  this 
world.  S(i  they  gathered  together  and  with  sing- 
ing, feasting,  and  many  ceremonies,  went  in  spirit 


VtiMiJiP' 


40 


yV'.'.V    )7;./A'.V  .//'  SA'OA'LKU/.S//. 


iiii 


I       I 


to  the  other  world  and  brought  these  spirits  back. 
This  spirit-worUl  is  .somowhere  below,  within  the 
earth.  When  they  are  ready  to  descend,  with 
much  ceremony  a  little  of  the  earth  is  broken,  to 
open  the  wa}',  is  it  were,  for  tlie  descent.  Having 
traveled  som^  distance  below,  they  come  to  a 
stream  which  must  be  cros.  .d  on  a  plank.     Two 


SwiNK  Masks  Uskd  in  ihk  Hi.ack  Tamaii.nols  Ckre- 

MlJNItS    liV    lllK  Cl.AI.I.AMS. 

planks  are  put  up  with  one  end  on  the  ground  and 
the  other  on  a  beam  in  the  house,  about  ten  feet 
above  the  ground,  in  a  slanting  direction,  one  on 
one  side  of  the  beam,  and  the  other  on  the  other 
side,  so  that  they  can  go  up  on  one  side  and  down 
on  the  other.  To  do  this  is  the  outward  form  of 
crossing  the  si)irit-river.  If  it  is  done  success- 
fully, all  is  well,  and  they  proceed  on  their  jour- 


DIFI'ICULTIES  IX   TJIK    WAV, 


41 


10 

ith 
to 


ney.     If,   however,   a  person    should   actually  fall 
from  one  of  these  j)lanks,  it  is  a  sure  sign  that  he 


Mask  Uskd  in  iiik  Black  Tamahnous  Ckrf.monies 
liv  riir.  Ci.aixams. 

I  riii:  markinps  are  of  ilifTiTLiit  (olnrs.     The  wc.irer  sees  thrnti);li  the  tinstrils.] 

will  tlie  in  a  year  or  so.     They  formerly  believed 
this  to  be  so,  but  about  twelve  years  ago  a  man 


^ 


42 


TEX   YEARS  AT  SKOKOM/SJI. 


did  fall  off,  and  did  die  within  a  year,  so  then  they 
were  certain  of  it.  Having  come  to  the  place  of 
the  departed  spirits,  they  (juietly  hunt  for  the 
spirits  of  their  living  friends,  and  when  they  find 
what  other  spirits  possess  them,  they  begin  battle 


,•# 


Bl.A(  K   'lAMAllNOI  ;,    M.\iK. 

and  attcmi)t  to  take  tiieni  and  are  generally  suc- 
cessful. Only  a  few  men  descend  to  the  spirit- 
world,  hut  during  the  tight  the  rest  of  the  people 
present  kccj)  u])  a  very  great  noi.se  by  singing, 
pounding  on  sticks  :in<I  drums,  and  in  similar 
ways  encourage  tho.^c  engaged  in  battle.      Having 


DII-TICULTIES  /y   THE    WAY. 


43 


■y 

c 


obtained  the  spirits  which  they  wish,  they  wrap 
them  up  or  pretend  to  do  so,  so  that  they  look 
like  a  great  doll,  and  bring  them  back  to  the 
world  and  deliver  them  to  their  proper  owners, 
who  receive  them  with  great  joy  and  sometimes 
with  tears  of  gratitude. 

At  other  times  they  go  through  other  cere- 
monies somewhat  different.  This  form  has  now 
mostly  ceased  among  the  Twanas,  but  retains  its 
hold  among  a  large  share  of  the  Clallams.  The 
Christian  Indians  profess  wholly  to  have  given 
it  up. 

Third.  The  Tamahnous  for  tlic  sick.  When  a 
person  is  very  sick,  they  think  that  the  spirit  of 
some  bad  animal,  as  the  crow,  bluejay,  wolf,  bear, 
or  similar  treacherous  creature,  has  entered  the 
individual  and  is  eating  away  the  life.  This  has 
been  sent  by  a  bad  medicine-man,  and  it  is  the 
business  of  the  good  medicine-man  to  draw  this 
out,  and  he  professes  to  do  it  with  his  incanta- 
tions. With  a  few  friends  who  sing  and  pound  on 
sticks,  he  works  over  the  patient  in  various  ways. 

This  is  the  most  difficult  belief  for  the  Indian 
to  abandon,  for,  while  there  is  a  religious  idea  in 
it,  there  is  also  much  of  superstition  connected 
with  it.  As  the  Indian  Agent  at  Klamath,  Ore- 
gon, once  wrote :  "  It  requires  some  thing   more 


w 


'\l 


'J?" 


44 


7'/:.v  }■/../ A'.v  .//■  :\'i>A'(>.u/s/A 


than  a  mere  rcsohU'on  of  the  will  to  overcome 
it."  "I  ilo  not  believe  in  it  n(»\v,"  saiil  a  Spo- 
kane Ind'an,  "1  ut  if  I  should  beeoinc  very  siek,  I 
expect  I  shouUl  want  an  Indian  doctor."  It  will 
take  time  and  educalicn  to  eradicate  this  idea.  It 
is  the  only  part  of  taniahnoiis,  which  I  think  an 
Indian  can  hold  and  be  a  Christian,  because  it  is 
held  partly  as  a  superstition  and  not  wholly  as  a 
religion.  Some  white,  iijnorant  persons  arc  super- 
stitious and,  at  tlie  same  time,  are  Christians. 
The  bad  spirit  which  causes  the  sickness  is  called 
.1  bad  tamahnous.  Soon  after  I  first  came  here, 
\\c  spent  several  eveninjjjs  in  discussing  the  (piali- 
fications  of  church  membership,  the  main  dif- 
ference of  opinion  centering  on  this  subject  of 
tamahnous  over  the  sick.  I  took  the  same  posi- 
tion then  that  I  do  ncnv,  and  facts  seem  to  agree 
thereto;  for,  among  the  ^'.".kamas,  Si)okanes,  antl 
Dakotas,  who  have  stood  as  Christians  m;iny 
years  through  strong  trials,  have  been  some  who 
have  not  wholly  abandoned  it,  it  remaining  appar- 
ently as  a  superstition  and  not   i  religion. 


m 


Ciii:ii.\Li.s  j.\(:k. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  reason  why  they  still 
believe  in  it,  the  following  examples  are  given  :  — 


niFJ'ICi'l.TIES  I.V  THE    WAY. 


45 


Chchalis  Jack  is  one  of  the  most  intclli^^cnt  and 
(.ivilizcil  of  the  older  uneducated  Twana  Indians, 
lie  has  been  one  of  those  most  ready  to  adopt  the 
customs  and  beliefs  of  the  whites  ;  has  stood  by  the 
agent  and  missionary  in  their  efforts  to  civilize  and 
Christianize  his  people  when  very  few  otlu-r  In- 
dians have  done  so,  and  was  one  of  the  first  of  the 
older  Indians  to  unite  with  the  church.  He  was 
a  sub-chief,  and  tried  to  induce  his  j)e()ple  lo  adopt 
civilized  customs,  settini.^  tjiem  an  example  in 
builtlinj^  by  far  the  best  house  erected  by  the 
Indians  on  the  reservation,  and  in  various  other 
ways.  lie  was  told  by  some  who  opposed  civili- 
zation that  because  of  this  some  enemy  would 
send  a  bad  tamahnous  into  him  and  make  him 
sick.  In  July,  i8Si,  lie  was  taken  sick,  evidently 
with  the  rheumatism,  or  some  thinj;  of  the  kind, 
and  the  threats  which  he  had  heard  began  to  prey 
upon  his  mind,  as  he  afterward  said.  Yet  for  six 
weeks  he  lived  at  his  home  a  mile  from  the  agency, 
and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  an  Indian 
doctor.  The  agency  physician  attended  him,  and 
his  rheumatism  seemed  to  lea\e  him,  but  he  did 
not  get  well  and  strong.  At  last  the  physician 
said  that  he  diil  not  believe  that  any  physician 
could  find  what  was  the  matter  with  him.     After 


V. ' 


46 


TEA'    YEARS  AT  SA'OA'O.U/S/A 


il  i 


dx  weeks  thus  spent,  by  the  advice  of  friends  lie 
tried  some  Indian  doctor:»  on  the  reservation,  but 
some  in  whom  he  had  litth;  confidence.  I  Ic  grew 
worse.  He  left  the  reservation  for  otluvr  Indian 
doctors,  twenty  miles  away,  who  said  they  could 
cure  him,  but  he  did  not  recover.  He  came  back 
home,  and  imported  another  Indian  doctor  from 
a  hundred  miles  distant,  but  was  not  cured.  We 
were  afraid  that  he  would  die,  and  it  was  plain  to 
several  whites  that  he  was  simply  being  frightened 
to  death.  I  had  long  talks  with  him  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  told  him  so,  but  couUl  not  convince  him 
of  the  truth  of  it.  He  said  :  "  Tamahnous  is  true  ! 
Tamahnous  is  true  !  Vou  have  told  us  it  is  not, 
but  now  I  have  experienced  it,  and  it  keeps  me 
sick."  During  the  winter  the  agency  physician 
resigned,  and  another  one  took  his  place  in  March, 
1882.  Jack  immediately  sent  for  him,  but  failed 
to  recover.  By  the  advice  of  white  friends,  who 
thought  they  knew  what  was  the  matter  with  Iiim, 
he  gave  up  his  Indian  doctor  and  tried  patent 
medicines  for  a  time,  but  to  no  i)urpose.  lie  left 
his  home,  and  moved  directly  to  the  agency,  being 
very  near  us,  having  no  Indian  doctor.  Thus  the 
summer  passed  away  and  fall  came.  Intelligent 
persons  had  sometimes  said  that  if    he  could    be 


WW 

I 


DlFF/Ci'l.T/r.S  /.V   rHF.    WAY. 


47 


made  to  do  some  thing  his  strength  would  soon 
return  to  him,  and  lie  would  find  that  he  wis  not 
very  sick.  He  had  had  fourteen  cords  of  wood 
cut  on  the  banks  of  the  Skokomish  River.  There 
was  no  help  that  lie  could  obtain  to  bring  the 
wood  to  his  house  c.\:cept  a  boy  and  an  old  man. 
Hq  was  much  afraid  that  the  rains  would  come, 
the  river  would  rise,  and  carry  off  his  wood.  He 
left  the  agency  and  returned  to  his  home,  and  had 
to  help  in  getting  his  wood.  About  the  same  time 
he  employed  another  Indiari  doctor  in  whom  he 
seemed  to  have  considerable  confidence,  and  be- 
tween the  fact  of  his  being  obliged  to  work  and 
his  confidence  in  the  Indian  doctor,  he  recovered. 
It  was  the  effect  of  the  inlluence  of  the  mind  over 
the  body.  The  principles  of  mental  philosophy 
could  account  for  it  all,  but  he  was  not  versed  in 
those  principles,  and  so  thoroughly  believes  that 
a  bad  tamahnous  was  in  him  and  that  O'd  Cush, 
the  Indian  doctor,  drew  it  out.  Since  that  time 
he  has  worked  nobly  for  civilization  and  Christian- 
ity—  but  his  belief  in  tamahnous  still  remains  in 
him.  When  the  question  of  his  joining  the  church 
came  up,  as  nothing  else  stood  in  the  way,  I  could 
not  make  up  my  mind  that  this  superstition  ought 
to  do  so,  and  after  two  and  a  half  years  of  church 


'^SfifMS**!;,"*.-^!!' 


w 


m 


-iS 


r/'V    YEARS  AT  SA'OA'O.VJS/J'. 


membership  the  results  havo  ])eer.  siicli  that  1  am 
satisfied  that  the  decision  was  wise. 


I 


iii 


^Ss, 


'a 


•KdHkUVWIV 


ELLEN    CRAW 

She  was  a  school-giil,  aboirt  sixteen  years  of 
age,  and  had  been  in  the  boarding-school  for 
several  years,  nearly  ever  since  she  had  beei\  old 
enough  to  attend,  Init  her  jxiri.'nts  iverc  cjuitc 
superstitious.  One  1 'rid  ly  evening  she  went 
home  to  remain  until  the  Sabbath,  l.>i,t  on  Satur- 
day, the  first  of  January,  lS8i,  :dio  was  taken 
sick,  and  tb.e  nature  of  her  sickness  was  such 
that  in  a  few  days  she  became  delirious.  Her 
parents  and  friends  mailc  her  believe  that  a  l>ad 
tamahnous  hadi  been  [iut  iiUu  her,  ami  no  one  Init 
an  Indiai\  doctor  could  cure  her.  They  tumah- 
noused  over  her  some.  The  au';ency  physician, 
Dr.  Givens,  was  not  callevl  until  tlte  sixth,  when 
he  left  some  medicine  for  her,  but  it  is  said  that  it 
was  nut  given  tn  her.  Hence  si\e  got  no  better, 
and  her  friends  declared  that  the  win'te  doctor 
was  killing  her.  The  agent  and  teacher  did  not 
like  the  way  the  affair  was  being  man(i.'uvcrcil, 
took  charge  (^f  lu-r,  moved  her  to  a  decent  house 
near  by,  and  placed  white  watehcrs  with  her,  so 
that  the  ]. roper  medicine  should  1)C  given,  and  no 


DIFFfCULTIES  IN   THE   WAY. 


49 


Indian  doctor  brought  in.  The  Indians  were, 
however,  determined,  if  possible,  to  tamahnous, 
and  declared  that  if  it  were  not  allowed,  she  would 
die  at  three  o'clock  a.m.  They  kept  talking  to 
her  about  it  and  she  apparently  believed  it,  and 
said  she  would  have  tamahnous.  But  it  was  pre- 
vented, and  before  the  time  set  for  her  death,  she 
was  cured  of  her  real  sickness.  But  she  was  not 
well.  Still  tiie  next  day  she  was  in  such  a  condi- 
tio!i  that  it  v.'as  thought  safe  X.o  move  her  in  a  boat 
to  the  boarding-house,  where  she  could  be  more 
easily  cared  for.  The  Indians  were  enraged  and 
said  tliat  she  would  die  before  landing,  but  .•>he  did 
not.  Watchers  were  kept  by  her  constantly,  but 
the  Indians  were  allowed  to  see  her.  They 
talked,  hovvever,  tv*  her  so  much  about  her  having 
a  Ix'ii!  tamahnous,  that  all  except  her  parents  were 
forbidden  to  see  her.  They  also  were  forbidden 
to  talk  on  tlie  subject,  and  evidently  obeyed.  But 
the  effect  on  lier  imagination  had  been  so  great 
that,  for  a  time,  she  often  acted  strangely.  She 
seUlom  said  any  thing ;  she  would  often  spurt  out 
the  medicine,  when  given  her,  as  far  as  she  could ; 
said  .she  saw  the  t;unahnous  ;  pulled  her  mother's 
hail,  \,\\  her  mother's  finger  so  that  il  bletl, 
seemeil  ijcculiarly  \exed  at  her  ;  moaned  most  of 


Sfr.^ 


v.' 


U? 


<l      :i 


¥ii 


50 


7V;.V    yJ:.lA'S  .!/•  SA'OA'OA//S//. 


the  time,  but  sometimes  screamed  very  loudly, 
and  even  bit  a  spoon  off.  Sometimes  she  talked 
rationally  and  sometimes  she  did  not.  But  by  the 
fifteenth  she  was  considerably  better,  walked 
arounil  with  hclj),  and  sat  up,  when  told  to  do  so, 
but  did  not  seem  to  lake  any  interest  in  any  thing. 
Every  thing  possible  was  done  to  interest  her  and 
occupy  her  attention,  antl  she  continued  to  grow 
better  for  three  or  four  days  more,  so  that  the 
watchers  were  dispensed  with,  except  tiiat  her 
parents  slept  in  the  room  with  her.  lUit  t)ne 
night  she  threw  off  the  clothes,  took  cold,  and 
would  not  make  any  effort  to  cough  and  clear  her 
throat  ;  and  on  the  tsventy-second,  she  died, 
actually  choking  to  death.  It  was  a  tolerably 
clear  case  of  tlcath  from  imagination,  easily 
accounted  for  on  tlie  j)rinciples  of  mental  phil- 
osophy, l5ut  the  Iiulians  had  never  studied  it,  and 
still  believe  that  a  bad  tamahnous  killed  her.  I 
was  afraid  that  tliis  death  would  cause  troui)le,  or, 
at  least,  that  a  strong  intluence  against  Chris- 
tianity would  result  fiom  it,  but  the  certificates  of 
allotment  to  their  land  came  just  at  tiiat  lime, 
which  pleased  them  so  much  that  the  affair  was 
smoothed  over. 

These  ami  some  other  instances  somewhat  simi- 


DIFFICULTIES  I.V  THE    IVAY. 


51 


lar,  though  not  quite  so  marked,  have  led  me 
to  make  some  allowances  for  the  older  Indians, 
which  I  would  not  make  for  whites.  With  small 
children,  who  were  too  young  to  have  any  such 
belief  in  tamahnous,  I  know  of  not  a  single 
instance  like  these  mentioned.  Indeed,  the 
Indian  doctors  have  been  among  the  most 
unfortunate  in  losing  their  children,  several  of 
them  having  lost  from  five  to  ten   infants    each. 

Some  of  the  older  uneducated  Indians  with  the 
most  advanced  ideas  have  said  lately  that  they 
were  ready  to  give  up  all  Indian  doctors,  and  all 
tamahnous  for  the  sick ;  still  they  would  not 
acknowledge  but  that  there  was  some  spirit  in 
the  affair,  but  they  said  it  was  a  bad  spirit,  of 
which  the  devil  was  the  ruler,  and  they  wished  to 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 

One  woman,  as  she  joined  the  church,  wished 
to  let  me  have  her  tamahnous  rattles,  made  of 
deer  hoofs,  for  she  said  she  was  a  Christian,  had 
stopped  her  tamahnous,  and  would  not  want  them 
any  more.  Still  she  thought  that  a  spirit  dwelt  in 
them,  only  she  thought  it  was  a  bad  spirit.  Hence 
she  was  afraid  to  have  them  remain  in  her  house, 
for  fear  the  spirit  would  injure  her;  for  the  same 
reason  she  was  afraid  to  throw  them  away ;  she 


l1i 

I 


52 


■/7:.v  yj.AA's  Ar  skokomish. 


was  for  the  same  reason  afraid  to  give  them  to 
any  of  her  friends,  even  to  those  far  away,  and  so 
she  thought  that  the  best  thing  that  could  be 
done  with  them  was  to  let  me  take  them,  for  she 
thought  I  could  manage  them.  I  was  willing,  antl 
prize  them  highly  because  of  the  reason  through 
which  I  obtained  them. 

Other  points  in  their  religious  belief  ilid  not 
stand  so  much  in  the  way  of  Christianity.  They 
believe  in  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being, 
though  verv  different  from  that  of  the  whites  — 
so  much  so,  that  the  latter  has  not  received  the 
name  of  the  former;  in  a  Deity  called  Do-ki- 
batl  by  the  Twanas,  and  Xu-ki-matl  by  the 
Clallams,  who  became  incarnate  and  vlid  many 
wonderful  things  ;  in  man's  sinfulness  and  immor- 
tality; in  the  creation,  renovation,  and  government 
of  the  world  by  their  great  Ik'ings  ;  in  a  flood,  or 
deluge,  the  tradition  of  which  his  enough  simi- 
larity to  that  of  the  Hible  to  make  me  believe 
that  it  refers  to  the  same  :  while  it  has  so  much 
nonsense  in  it  as  to  sIkTw  that  they  did  not  receive 
it  from  the  whiles  ;  in  tlianksgiving,  prayer,  sacri- 
fices, and  purification  ;  in  a  place  of  happiness  for 
the  soul  after  death,  situated  somewhere  within 
the  earth,  antl  in  a  place    of  future    punishment, 


DIJ-I'ICLLTIKS  IN   THE    WAY. 


53 


also  situated  within  the  earth.  The  Clallams 
believed  that  the  Sun  was  the  Supreme  Deity, 
or  that  he  resided  in  the  sun,  but  I  have  never 
been  able  to  discover  any  such  belief  among  the 
Twanas.  They  believe  that  the  spirits  dwell  in 
sticks  and  stones  at  times,  and  I  have  seen  one 
rough  idol  among  the  Twanas. 

0)     BKSETTINC;   SINS. 

The  more  prominent  of  these  are  gambling,  bet- 
ting, horse-racing,  potlatchcs,  and  intemperance. 

Gambling  is  conducted  in  three  different  native 
ways,  and  many  of  the  Indians  have  also  learned 
to  play  curds.  The  betting  connected  with  horse- 
racing  belongs  to  the  same  sin.  Horse-racing  has 
not  been  much  of  a  temptation  to  the  Clallams 
because  tlicy  own  very  few  horses,  their  country 
being  such  that  they  have  had  but  little  use  for 
them.  Nearly  all  of  their  travel  is  by  water.  The 
Twanas  have  had  much  more  temptation  in  this 
rcs[)ect. 

One  of  the  native  ways  of  gambling  belongs  to 
the  women,  the  other  tt)  the  men  :  but  there  is  far 
less  temptation  for  the  women  to  gamble  than 
tliere  is  for  the  men,  because  summer  and  winter, 
day-time  and  evening,  there  is  always  something 


If 


SM' 


W^ 

tT 

F 

I'-l  ' 

i' 

I 

■J 

i 

i! 

1     %      . 

1*' ' 

t 
If 

1 

4 

54 


■/7-:x  yi:.iA's  .ir  sa'okomjsi/. 


for  them  to  do.  But  with  the  men  it  is  different. 
The  rainy  .season  and  the  long  winter  evenings 
hang  heavily  on  their  hand.s,  for  they  have  very 
little  indoor  work.  They  can  not  read,  and  hence 
the  temptation  to  gamble  is  great. 

One  mode  of  gambling  by  the  men  is  with  small 
round  wooden  disks  about  two  inches  in  diameter. 
There  arc  ten  in  a  set,  one  of  which  is  marked. 

U  n  (1  e  r  cover  they  are 
divitlcd,  j)art  of  them  un- 
der one  liand  and  the  rest 
u  n  d  e  r  t  h  e  other,  are 
shuffled  around,  concealed 
under  cedar-bark,  which 
is  beaten  up  fine,  and  the 
object  of  the  other  party 
is  to  guess  under  which  hand  the  marked  disk  is. 
The  other  game  of  the  men  is  with  small  bones, 
two  inches  long  and  a  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  or 
sometimes  they  are  two  and  a  half  inches  long  and 
an  incli  in  diameter.  Sometimes  only  one  of  the 
small  ones  is  used,  and  sometimes  two,  one  of 
which  is  marked.  They  arc  passed  very  quickly 
back  and  forth  from  one  liand  to  the  other,  and 
the  object  is  for  the  oi)posite  party  to  guess  in 
which  hand  the  marked  one  is.     An    accompani- 


G.VMiii.iNt;  lioNics. 


D II' J- ICC  I. TIES  IX   THE    WAY. 


55 


mcnt  is  kept  uj)  by  the  side  which  is  playing  by 
singing  and  ])ounding  on  a  large  stick  with  smaller 
ones.  With  both  of  these  games  occasionally  the 
large  drum  is  brought  in,  and  tamahnous  songs  are 
sung,  so  as  to  invoke  the  aid  of  their  guardian 
spirits. 

In  the  women's  game  usually  four  beaver's  teeth 
arc  used,  which  have  peculiar  markings.  They 
arc  rapidly  thrown  uj), 
and  the  way  in  which 
they  fall  determines  the 
number  of  counts  be- 
longing   to    the     party 

})laying.     The  principle 

Bkaver's  Tkktii  lOR  Gambling 
IS  somewhat   the   same  ^^  women. 

as  with  a  game  of  dice. 

Formerly  they  bet  large  sums,  sometimes  every 

thing  they  owned,  even  to  all  the  clothes  they  had, 

but  it  has  not  been  the  custom  of  late  years.    When 

vXgent  Eells  first  came  to  Skokomish,  under  orders 

from  the  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  he  tried 

to  break  up  the  gambling  entirely,  but  there  were 

hardly  any  Indians  to  sustain  him  in  the    effort. 

They  would  conceal  themselves  and  gamble,  do  so 

by  night,  or  go  off  from  the  reservation  where  he 

had  no  control,  and  carry  on  the  game  —  so  for  a 


m 


I 


hi 


•I.; 


Ill 


"^sr—a 


56 


77;. V    )7:.IA'S  AT  Sh'Oh'O.U/SI/. 


time  be  h;ul  to  allow  it,  with  some  restrictions  ; 
that  is,  that  the  bets  must  be  small,  the  games  not 
often,  but  generally  only  on  the  I'^o  irth  of  July,  at 
great  festivals,  and  the  like.  Occasionally  they 
have  had  a  grand  time  by  gatheriag  about  all  the 
Indians  on  the  reservation  togctlicr,  both  men  and 
women,  anil  perhaps  for  four  days  and  nights,  with 
very  little  sleep,  have  kept  up  the  game. 

On  account  of  their  want  vi  employment  in  the 
winter  and  their  inability  to  read,  probably  the  sin- 
fulness of  this  sin  is  not  so  great  with  them  as 
with  whites.  Some  good,  prominent  Indian  work- 
ers have  thought  that  it  -vas  hardly  right  to  prt)- 
scribe  a  Christian  Indian  from  gan.Ming.  I  learned 
of  one  Protestant  church  which  admitted  Indians 
without  saying  any  thing  on  this  subject,  but 
which  tried  U)  stop  it  after  they  were  in  the 
church  ;  but  I  could  never  bring  myself  to  think 
that  a  church  full  of  gambling  Indians  was  right, 
and  this  became  one  of  the  test  questions  with 
the  men  in  regard  to  admittance  into  the  church. 

When  I  first  saw  the  infatuation  the  game  pos- 
sessed for  them  I  felt  that  nothing  but  the  gospel 
of  Christ  would  ever  stop  it.  Among  the  C  lallam:". 
off  of  the  reservation  none  except  the  Christians 
have  given  it  n\).     On  the  reservation  within  the 


IL! 


«<«$»>■ 


I 


J 


POTLATCH    HOUSE,   SKOKOMlSH. 
40  ft.  X  200. 


niiiicri/nEs  ix  rin-:  way, 


57 


last  few  years  so  many  of  the  Indians  have  be- 
come Christians  that  puhHc  opinion  has  frowned 
on  it,  and  there  is  very  Httle,  if  any,  of  it,  though 
some  of  the  Indians  who  do  not  profess  to  be 
Christians,  wlicn  they  visit  other  Indians,  will 
gamble,  although  they  do  not  when  at  home. 

The  Potlatch  is  the  greatest  festival  that  the 
Indian  has.  It  is  a  Chinook  word,  and  means  "to 
give,"  and  is  bestowed  as  a  name  to  the  festival 
because  the  central  idea  of  it  is  a  distribution  of 
gifts  by  a  few  persons  to  the  many  i)rcsent  whom 
they  have  invited.  It  is  generally  intertribal,  from 
four  hundred  to  two  thousand  persons  being  pres- 
ent, and  from  one  to  three,  or  even  ten,  thousand 
dollars  in  money,  blankets,  guns,  canons,  cloth,  and 
the  like  are  given  away.  There  is  no  regularity 
to  the  time  when  they  are  held.  Three  have  l)een 
held  at  Skokomish  within  fifteen  years,  each  one 
being  given  by  different  persons,  and  during  the 
same  time,  as  far  as  I  know,  a  part  or  all  of  the 
tribe  have  been  invited  to  nine  others,  eight  of 
which   some  of  them  have  attended. 

The  mere  giving  of  a  present  l)y  one  person  to 
another,  or  to  several,  is  not  in  itself  sinful,  but 
this  is  carried  to  such  an  extreme  at  these  times 
that  th(    morality  of  that  part  of   them  becomes 


58 


TEN    YEARS  AT  SA'OA'OM/S//. 


t 


exceedingly  questionable.  In  order  to  obtain  the 
money  to  give  they  deny  themselves  so  much  for 
years,  live  in  old  houses  and  in  so  poor  a  way,  that 
the  self-denial  becomes  an  enemy  to  health,  com- 
fort, civilization,  and  Christianity.  If  they  would 
take  the  same  money,  buy  and  improve  land,  build 
good  houses,  furnish  them,  anil  li\c  decently,  it 
would  be  far  better. 

l^ut  while  two  or  three  days  of  the  time  spent 
at  them  is  occupied  in  making  presents,  the  rest 
of  the  time,  from  three  days  to  two  and  a  half 
weeks,  is  spent  in  gambling,  red  and  black  tamah- 
nous,  and  other  wicked  practices,  and  the  temp- 
tation to  do  wrong  becomes  so  great  tliat  very 
few  Indians  can  resist  it. 

When  some  of  the  Alaska  Indians,  coveting  the 
prosperity  which  the  Christian  Indians  of  that 
region  had  acquired,  asked  one  of  these  Christians 
whnt  they  must  do  in  order  to  l)ecome  Christians, 
the  reply  was:  "  Mrst  give  up  your  potlatches." 
It  was  felt  that  there  was  so  much  e\il  connected 
with  them  that  they  and  Christianity  could  not 
flourish  together.  Among  the  Twanas,  while 
they  are  not  dead,  they  are  largely  on  the  wane. 
Among  a  large  part  of  the  Clallams  they  still 
flourish. 


DIFFlCll.TIES   fX    rUE    WAV. 


59 


It 


Intemperance  is  a  besetting  sin  of  Indians,  and 
it  is  about  as  much  a  besetting  sin  of  some  whites 
to  furnish  intoxicating  liquors  to  the  Indians. 
The  laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  Washington 
Territory  are  stringent  against  any  body's  furnish- 
ing liquor  to  the  Indians,  but  for  a  time  previous  to 
1 87 1  they  had  by  no  means  been  strictly  enforced. 
As  the  intercourse  of  the  Indians  with  the  whites 
was  often  with  a  low  class,  who  were  willing  to 
furnish  liquor  to  tiiem,  they  grew  to  love  it,  so 
that  in  1871  the  largest  part  of  the  Indians  had 
learned  to  love  liquor.  Its  natural  consequences, 
fighting,  cutting,  shooting,  and  accidental  deaths, 
were  frequent. 


« 


11      ' 


h 


^  ( 

S 


n 


VII. 


TKMrKRANCE. 

TN  187!  the  agent  began  to  enforce  the  laws 
^  against  the  selling  of  liquor  to  the  Indians, 
and.  according  to  a  rule  of  the  Indian  Depart- 
ment ;  he  also  punished  the  Indians  for  tlrinking. 
Missionary  influence  wctit  hand  in  hand  with  his 
work,  and  good  results  have  followe<l.  l*'or  years 
very  few  Indians  on  the  reservation  have  been 
known  to  be  drunk,  i'unishmcnt  upon  the  liquor- 
drinker  as  well  as  the  liciuor-seller  has  had  a  good 
effect.  I'ar  more  (  f  the  Clallanis  drink  than  of 
the  Twanas.  They  live  so  far  from  the  agent 
that  he  can  not  know  of  all  their  drinking,  and,  if 
he  did,  he  could  not  go  to  arrest  them  all  ;  and 
many  of  them  live  so  dose  to  large  towns  where 
li(luor  is  very  easily  obtained,  that  it  has  been  im- 
possible to  stop  all  of  their  drinking.  Still  his 
occasional  vi.sits,  the  aid  of  a  few  white  men  near 
them,  and  of  the  better  Indians,  together  with 
what  they  see  of  the  evil  effects  of  intenq)erance 
on  themselves,  have  greatly  checkeil  the  evil.    Very 


r/:.\/r/:A'.i\cE. 


6i 


few  complete  reformations,  however,  have  taken 
place  anion<j  those  away  from  the  reservation, 
except  those  who  have  become  Christians.  In 
addition,  a  [;()od  share  of  the  )ounger  ones  have 
grown  up  witli  so  much  less  temptation  than  their 
parents  haci,  and  so  much  more  influence  in  favor 
of  temperance,  tliat  they  have  become  teetotalers. 

h'or  a  long  time,  beginning  wit':  1874,  a  tem- 
perance society  flourished,  and  nearly  all  the 
Indians  of  both  tribes  joineil  it.  ICach  member 
signeil  t!ie  pledge  under  oath,  and  took  that 
pledge  home  to  keep,  but  in  time  it  was  found 
that  the  society  had  no  penalty  with  which  to 
punish  offenders  sulficient  to  make  them  fear 
much  to  do  so  again.  The  agent  alone  had  that 
power  —  so  the  society  died.  Hut  tiie  law  and 
gospel  tlid  not  tire  in  the  work  and  something 
has  been  accomplished. 

The  agent  could  tell  many  a  story  of  prose- 
cuting licpior-sellers  ;  sometimes  before  a  packetl 
jury,  who,  when  the  proof  was  positive,  declared 
the  i)risoner  not  guilty  ;  of  having  Iiulian  wit- 
nes.ses  tampered  with,  and  bought  either  by  money 
or  threats,  so  that  they  would  nt)t  testify  in  court, 
although  to  him  they  had  previously  given  ilirect 
testimony  as  to  who  had  furnished  them  with  the 


TEX    YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII.    . 


:    I 


m 


liquor;  of  a  time  when  some  of  the  Clallam  In- 
dians became  so  independent  of  his  authority  that 
they  tlefied  him  when  he  went  to  arrest  them, 
and  he  was  oblij;ed  to  use  the  revenue-cutter  in 
order  to  take  them,  and  when,  in  consequence,  his 
friends  feared  that  his  life  was  in  danger  from  the 
white  litiuor-sellers,  liccause  the  latter  feared  the 
result  of  tlieir  lawlessness ;  of  a  jud<;e  who, 
althou.i;h  a  Christian  man,  so  allowed  his  sympa 
thies  to  i;o  out  for  the  criminal  that  he  would 
strain  the  law  to  let  him  <^o ;  or,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  another  judj;e  who  woulil  strain  the  law 
to  catch  a  rascal  ;  of  convicting  eight  white  men 
at  one  time  of  selling  liiiuor  to  Indians,  only  to 
have  some  of  them  take  their  revenge  by  burning 
the  Indians'  houses  antl  all  of  their  contents. 
Still  in  a  few  years  he  made  it  very  unsafe  for 
most  permanent  residents  to  sell  intoxicating 
liquors  to  the  Imlians,  so  that  but  few  except 
transient  i)eople,  as  sailors  and  travelers,  dared  to 
do  so. 

"For  ways  that  are  dark  and   tricks   that   are 
vain  "  the  Indian  and  the  li(|Uor-seller   can  almost 
rival  the  "  heathen  Chinee."'     A  saloon    is   on    the 
beach,  and  so  hi-h  that  \*.  is  easy  to   go   under   it 
A  small  hole  is   in   the  lloor  mider  the  counter. 


nm 


TEMrERAXCE. 


63 


A  hand  comes  up  with  some  money  in  it :  after 
dark  a  bottle  goes  down,  and  some  Indians  are 
drunk,  but  nobody  can  prove  any  thing  wrong. 

An  Indian  takes  a  bucket  of  clams  into  a  saloon 
and  asks  the  Ixir-tender  if  he  wishes  them.  "  I 
will  see  what  my  wife  says,"  is  the  reply,  and  he 
takes  them  to  a  back  room.  Soon  he  comes  back 
and  says  :  "  Here,  take  your  old  clams,  they  are 
bad  and  rotten."  The  Indian  takes  them,  and 
soon  a  company  of  Indians  are  "  gloriously  drunk," 
a  l)ottle  having  been  put  in  the  bottom  of  the 
bucket.  Sometimes  a  part  of  a  sack  of  flour  is 
made  of  a  bottle  of  whiskey. 

An  Indian,  having  been  taken  up  for  drunken- 
ness, was  asked  in  court,  in  Tort  Townsend,  where 
he  obtained  his  licpior.  "  If  I  tell,  I  can  not 
get  any  more,"  was  the  blunt  reply.  Others  have 
found  theirs  floating  in  the  river  or  lying  by  a 
tree,  which  may  all  ha\e  been  true,  yet  some  man 
who  understood  it  was  the  gainer  of  some  money, 
which  i)erhaps  he  fountl.  Many  an  Indian,  when 
asked  who  let  him  liavc  the  licpior,  has  said  :  "  I 
do  not  know  ;  "  or,  "  I  do  not  know  his  name." 

Yet  there  are  stories  on  the  other  side  which 
make  a  brighter  picture.  In  1875  the  Twana  am! 
Nisqually  Indians   met    as    they  had   often   done 


64 


TKX    YK.IKS  A  J-  SA'(.>A'OJ//.S//. 


during  previous  years  for  feasting,  visiting,  trad- 
ing, and  horse-racing.  The  first  agreement  was 
to  meet  on  the  Skokoniish  Reservation,  but  con- 
tinued rains  made  the  race-track  on  the  reserva- 
tion ahnost  unfit  for  use,  it  being  bottom  kind. 
There  was  another  track  on  gravelly  land  about 
ten  miles  from  Skokomish.  On  the  Sabbath 
previous  to  the  races  the  sermon  hail  reference  to 
the  subject,  because  of  the  betting  and  danger  of 
drunkenness  connected  with  it.  A  Xisqually  In- 
dian came  then  and  urgeil  the  Skokomish  Indians 
to  go  to  the  other  race-track  at  Shelton's  Prairie, 
because  the  one  at  Skt)komish  was  so  muddy. 
The  Skokomish  Indians  replied  that  they  did  not 
wish  to  go  to  the  jirairie  for  fear  there  would  be 
whiskey  there,  but  that  they  would  go  to  work 
and  ii.\  their  own  track  as  well  as  they  couUl. 
One  sub-chief,  the  only  one  of  the  chiefs  who  had 
a  race-horse,  said  he  would  not  go  there.  This 
wonl  was  carried  to  the  Xisipially  hnlians  who 
were  camped  at  tl-.e  jjrairie.  but  they  refused  to 
come  to  Skokomish,  and  sent  their  messenger  to 
tell  the  S!;okomish  Indians  so.  Several  hours 
were  occuijieil  in  discussing  the  (piestion.  In 
talking  with  the  a-eiit,  tin-  head-chief  askcil  him 
if  he  would  send  one  of  the  employees   to  guanl 


TEMPERAXCE. 


65 


them,  should  they  decide  to  go  to  the  prairie. 
The  head-chief  then  went  to  the  prairie  and 
induced  the  Nisquallys  to  come  to  the  reservation 
for  the  visit,  trading,  and  marriage,  which  was  to 
take  phice,  and  for  the  races  if  the  track  should 
be  suitable.  I'^rom  Wednesday  until  Saturday  was 
occupied  by  the  Indians  as  agreed  upon,  but  the 
weather  continued  rainy  and  the  track  was  unfit 
for  use.  On  Saturday  the  Nisqually  Indians  went 
back  to  the  prairie  and  invited  the  Skokomish 
Indians  to  go  there  for  the  races.  On  Monday 
twenty-five  or  thirty  of  them  went,  but  this  num- 
ber did  not  include  a  chief  or  many  of  the  better 
class,  the  great  fear  being  that  they  would  be 
tempteil  to  tlrink.  According  to  the  request  of 
the  chief,  one  white  man  from  the  reservation 
went,  together  with  the  regular  Indian  i)olicemen. 
There  were  also  present  ten  or  twelve  other  white 
men  from  ditferent  j)laces,  one  of  whom  carried 
consideralile  lic|Uor.  The  Indian  policemen  y.)\\ 
seeing  this  went  to  him  and  told  him  he  must  not 
sell  or  give  any  of  it  to  any  of  the  Indians,  and 
he  promised  that  he  woulil  not.  He  was  after- 
ward seen  otfering  some  to  a  Nisqually  Indian, 
who  rcfuseil.  When  night  came  it  was  found 
that,  with    three   or    four   exceptions,  all    of   the 


66 


T1:X   YEARS  AT  SA'OA'OMISIf, 


I'  i' 


white  men  present  had  drank  some,  and  a  few 
were  quite  drunk,  while  it  was  not  known  that  any 
of  the  Indians  present  had  taken  any.  That  the 
better  ckiss  of  Indians  should  not  go  to  the  races, 
and  that  all  shouUl  earnestly  contend  aj^ainst 
going  to  that  place  for  fear  of  temptation  ;  that 
they  asked  for  a  white  man  to  guanl  tiiem  ;  lliat 
an  Indian  tokl  a  white  man  not  to  give  licpior  U) 
his  fellow-Indians,  and  that,  while  most  of  the 
wjiite  men  drank  some,  it  was  not  known  that  any 
Indian  drank  at  all,  although  it  was  not  the 
better  class  of  Indians  who  were  i)resent,  were 
facts  which  were  encourairinu;. 

A  sub-chief  of  the  Ckdlam  Indians,  at  IClkwa, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  from  the  reserva- 
tion, in  1 878,  found  that  an  Indian  fioin  British 
Columbia  had  brought  a  keg  of  liquor  among  his 
people,  lie  immediately  complainetl  before  a 
justice  of  the  peace,  who  arrested  the  guilty  man, 
emptied  his  liquor  on  the  ground,  and  fined  liim 
sixty-four  dollars. 

The  head-chief  of  the  Clallams,  Lord  James 
Halch,  has  for  nine  years  so  steadily  opposed 
drinking,  and  inii)risonc(l  and  fined  the  offenders 
so  nuieh,  that  he  excited  the  enmitv  of  the  In- 
dians,  aiul  even  of  then-  doctors,  and  also  of  some 


TEMPl-RAXCE. 


67 


white  men,  much  as  a  good  Indian  agent  does. 
Although  he  is  not  j)erfcct,  he  still  continues  ihe 
good  work.  Fifteen  years  ago  he  was  among 
the  worst  Indians  about,  drinking,  cutting,  and 
fighting. 

In  January,  i<S7S,  I  was  asked  to  go  ninety 
miles,  by  l;oth  Clallams  and  Twanas,  to  a  pot- 
latch,  to  protect  them  from  worthless  whites  and 
Indians,  who  were  ready  to  take  liquor  to  the 
place.  The  potlatch  was  at  Dunginess,  given  by 
some  Clallams.  I  went,  in  company  with  about 
seventy-five  Twanas.  and  it  was  not  known  that 
more  than  eight  of  them  had  tasted  liquor  within 
four  years,  although  none  of  them  professed  to  be 
Christians.  During  that  festival,  which  continued 
nine  days,  and  where  more  than  five  hundred 
Indians  were  present,  only  one  Indian  was  drunk. 

More  than  once  a  whiskey-bottle  has  been 
captured  from  an  Indian,  set  out  in  view  of  all  on 
a  stumj)  or  box,  a  temperance  sj^eech  made  and 
a  temperance  hymn  sung,  the  bottle  broken  into 
many  pieces,  and  the  contents  spilled  on  the 
ground. 

The  Indians  say  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
first  brought  it  to  them,  but  dealt  it  out  very 
sparingly,   but   when    the   Americans   came   they 


68 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


Idit  I 


ii 


brought  barrels  of  it.  They  seem  to  be  proud 
that  it  is  not  the  Indians  who  manufacture  it,  for 
if  it  were  they  would  soon  put  a  stop  to  it  ;  nor  is 
it  the  believer  in  God,  but  wickeil  white  men  wiio 
wish  to  clear  them  away  as  trees  are  cleared  from 
the  ground. 

Thus,  when  we  take  into  consideration  the  con- 
dition of  these  Indians  fifteen  years  ago,  and  the 
present  condition  of  some  other  Inilians  in  the 
region  who  lie  beastly  drunk  in  open  sight,  and 
compare  it  with  the  present  status  of  those  now 
here,  there  is  reason  for  ct)ntinueil  faith  in  the 
God  of  the  la\/  and  gospel  of  temperance. 


VIII. 


INDUSTRIES. 


T  OGGING,  farming  in  a  small  way,  and  work 
-* — '  as  day-laborers,  have  been  the  chief  n)cans  of 
civilized  labor  among  the  men  on  the  reservation. 
A  large  share  of  their  land  is  first-cIass,  rich 
bottom  land,  though  all  was  covered  originally 
with  timber.  It  hail  been  surveyed,  assigned  to 
the  different  heads  of  families,  and  certificates  of 
allotment  from  the  government  issued  to  them. 
Nearly  all  of  them  have  from  one  to  ten  acres 
cleared,  most  of  which  is  in  hay. 

Still  when  there  has  been  a  market  for  logs  at 
the  neighboring  saw-mills,  they  have  preferred  that 
work,  not  because  there  is  more  money  in  it,  for 
actually  there  is  less,  but  because  they  get  the 
money  quicker.  It  comes  when  the  logs  are  sold, 
generally  within  three  months  after  they  begin 
a  boom.  Hut  in  regard  to  their  land,  they  must 
work  some  time  after  they  begin  to  clear  it,  before 
it  is  done  ;  then  a  year  or  two  longer,  before  they 
can  obtain  much  of  a  crop  of  hay  from  it.     Hence 

G9 


I 


'i'     ' 


f« 


«l 


H 


70 


TEJV   VEAA'S  AT  SA'OA'OMIS//. 


it  has  been  up-hill  work  to  induce  most  of  them 
to  do  much  work  at  clearing  land.  I"'or  several 
years  before  their  annuities  ceased,  in  iSSi,  tiic 
covernment  made  a  rule  that  no  able-bodied  m:.n 
should  receive  any  annuities  until  he  had  per- 
formed labor  on  his  land  equal  in  value  to  the 
amount  he  should  receive.  Krom  the  example  of 
the  few  adjoining  settlers,  some  are  beginning  to 
see  that  farming  is  more  j^rofitable  than  logging. 
The  largest  share  of  good  timber  on  the  reserva- 
tion has  been  taken  off  during  the  past  twenty 
years,  so  that  now  a  number  have  bought  timber 
off  the  reservation  for  logging.  They  own  their 
own  teams,  keep  their  own  time-books,  and  at 
present  attend  to  all  their  own  business  in  con- 
nection with  these  camps.  In  one  respect  they 
differ  from  white  folks  — in  their  mode  of  conduct- 
ing the  business.  Instead  of  one  or  two  men 
owning  every  thing,  hiring  the  men,  paying  all 
expen.ses,  and  taking  all  the  profits,  they  combine 
together  and  unitedly  share  the  profits  or  losses. 
When  the  boom  is  .sold,  and  all  neces.sary 
expenses  which  have  been  incurred  are  paid, 
they  divide  the  money  among  themselves  accord- 
ing to  the  amount  of  work  each  has  done.  A  few 
have  tried  to  carry  on  camps  as  white  pf^  pie  do, 
but  have  always  failed. 


P 


ixnrsTK/ES. 


7J 


Very  few  now  pursue  the  old  avocations  of  fish- 
ing and  hunting,  except  the  old  ones.  Nearly  all 
the  able-bodied  men  work  at  some  civilized  pur- 
suit. Take  a  ride  over  the  reservation  on  almost 
any  pleasant  day,  and  nearly  all  the  men  will  be 
found  to  be  busy  at  something. 

In  the  winter,  however,  it  is  different.  They 
have  very  little  work  for  rainy  days,  and  so  there 
is  more  temptation  to  gir.uble  and  tamahnou.s. 
"  Satan  finds  some  mischief  still  for  idle  hands 
to  do." 

The  women  have  less  temptation  than  the  men 
in  winter.  When  they  have  no  outdoor  work,  or 
it  is  stormy,  they  can  sew,  do  housework,  make 
mats  and  baskets,  and  all,  even  the  very  old  ones, 
are  commonly  busy  at  some  of  these  things. 
Some  of  them  are  good  washerwomen  and  some 
are  cooks  in  the  logging-camps.  They  are  by  no 
means  so  near  in  a  state  of  slavery  as  some  Indian 
women  in  the  interior,  but  are  treated  with  con- 
siderable propriety  by  their  husbands. 

A  few  of  the  young  men,  after  having  been  in 
school  for  a  time,  have  been  apprenticed  to  the 
trades  of  carpenter,  blacksmith,  and  farmer,  and 
have  done  so  fairly,  that  they  were  employed  by 
the  government  after  the  white  employees  were  ^ 
discharged. 


m 


72 


TEAT   YEAKS  AT  SA'OA'OMISI/. 


11 


w 


i 


1 


m 


w 


iMiWt.wHUdar' 


I     in 


;l^' 


J    i' 


!i 


I'! 


The  Clallams  have  done  very  little  logging  or 
farming.     A  number  have  obtained  land  at  I'ort 
Discovery,  Jamestown,  I-Llkwa,  and  Clallam  Bay, 
but  only  a  little  of  it  is  first-class  land,  antl  they 
have  used  it  for  gardens  and  as  a  place  for  a  per- 
manent home,  so  that  they  should  not  be  driven 
from  one  place  to  another,  more  than  for  farming. 
At  Seabeck,   Port  Gamble,    Port  Townsend,  and 
Port  Discovery,  they  work  quite  constantly  in  the 
.saw-mills;    at    Jamestown,    for    the    surrounding 
farmers  ;  at  Port  Angeles,  IClkwa,  and  Clallam  Ikiy, 
more  of  them  hunt  and  fish  than  elsewhere.     A 
number  earn   considerable  money  taking  freight 
and  passengers  in  their  canoes.     The  obtaining  of 
dog-fish  oil  is  something  of  a  business,  as  logging- 
camps  use  a  large  amount  of  it.     In  September 
there  is   employment    at   the    Puyallup   and    sur- 
rounding region,  about  ninety  miles  from  Skoko- 
mish,  in  picking  hops.     Hop-raising  has  grown  to 
be  a  large  business  among  the  whites,  and  Indians 
have  been  preferred  for  picking  the  nops,  thousands 
of  whom  flock  there  every  year  for  the  purpose, 
from    every   part    of   the    Sound,  and    even    from 
British  Columbia  and  the  Yakama  country.     Old 
people,  women,  and  children  do  as  well  at  this  as 
able-bodied    men.     It    has    not,    however,    always 


LVDi'S7'KIES. 


n 


a  pcr- 
d  rive  II 


frcij^bt 


lo<''<''iii<''- 


been  a  hcalihy  place  for  their  morals,  i^  on  Sun- 
days and  evenings  gambling,  betting,  and  horse- 
racing  have  been  largely  carried  on.  At  one  time 
"  The  Devil's  Playground,"  in  the  Puyallup  Valley 
was  noted  as  the  place  where  Indians  and  low 
whites  gathered  on  the  Sabbath  for  horse-racing 
and  gambling,  but  it  became  such  a  nuisance  to 
the  hop-growers,  as  well  as  to  the  agents,  that 
they  combined  and  closed  it. 

A  part  of  the  Clallams  earn  considerable  money 
by  scaling,  off  the  north-west  coast  of  the  Terri- 
tory, a  very  profitable  business  generally  from 
January  to  May.  In  I.S83  the  ta.xes  of  those 
Clallams  who  live  in  Clallam  County  were 
$168.30. 


TX. 


TITLES   TU   TlI]:iU    LAND. 


•^MM 


.i     t- 


l        I 

i    i 


"  I  ^J I E  plow  and  the  l^ible  go  together  in  civiliz- 
-■■  ing  Inilians,"'  is  the  remark  of  Rev.  J.  H. 
Wilbur,  who  for  more  than  twenty  years  was  one 
of  the  most  successful  workers  among  them  :  l.nt 
neither  Indians  nor  whites  feel  much  like  clearing 
land  and  plowing  it  unless  they  feel  sure  that  the 
land  is  theirs. 

When  the  treaty  was  made  in  1.S55  it  was  the 
understanding  that  whenever  the  Indians  should 
settle  down  on  the  reservation,  adopt  civilized 
habits,  and  clear  a  few  acres  of  land,  g(K>d  title- 
would  be  given  to  them  by  the  government.  With 
this  understanding,  not  long  after  Agent  Ec\\>  took 
charge,  he  had  the  reservation  surveyed  and  di- 
vided, so  that  each  head  of  ;i  family  whose  home 
was  on  the  reservation  should  have  a  fair  portion 
He  gave  them  j)ap('rs,  signed  by  himself,  in  iS;.;, 
describing  the  land,  with  thr  e.\|)eet;ition  that  thr 
government  in  a  short  time  would  give  them  good 
titles,  he  i.uving  been  thus  assured  by  his  supe- 

74 


4 


TITLES    TO    THEIR    I..IXI\ 


75 


riors  in  office.     Other  agents  did  the  same.     But 
new  movements  by  the  government  with  reference 
to  the  Indians  are  usually  very  slow,  as  they  have 
no  votes,  and  this  was  no  exception.     Agent  li^ells, 
as    well    as    others,    plead    and    plead    time    and 
again,  to  have  this  stipulation  in  the  treaty  fulfilled, 
but  for  a  long  time  to  no  purpose.     Often  he  had 
no  reply  to  his  letters.     People  f)f   both  political 
l)arties  put  this  as  a  plank   into   their   platform; 
those  of  all  religions  antl  nu  religion  ;    those  who 
opposed  the  jieace  policy  as  well   as    those    who 
favored  it,  signed  petitions  to  this  effect,  but  in 
vain.     This  delay  was  the  source  of  much  uneasi- 
ness to  the  Indians,  more,  I  tliink,  than  any  other 
cause,  for  men  were  not  wanting  who  told  them 
that    they    would   be    nKJvetl    away  ;    there    were 
plenty  of  people  who  coveted  their  land,  and  e.\- 
ami)les  were  not  wanting  of  Indians  who  had  been 
mo\'C(l  from  i)laee  to  place  by  the  government.     It 
has  been   the  only  thing  which    has    ever   caused 
them  t<»  talk  about  war.     Some   Indians  left    ihe 
reservation    because    they   feared    they  would    be 
moved  away.      "  I  am   not  going  to  clear  land  and 
fence   it    for  the  whiles   to    use,"    was    what    one 
said  and  others   felt. 

When  the  treaty  was  made  it   was  believed  by 


'!r 


»*ltt 


76 


7v;.v'  yi-:.iA:s-  .//•  sk'oa'om/s//. 


the  Indians  that  they  possessed  all  the  land,  and 
that  they  sold  all  except  the  reservation,  to  which 
they  supposed  they  had  a  good  title,  at  least  as 
good  as  the  United  States  had,  and  white  people 
believ(^d  the  same  ;  but  a  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  oi  the  United  States  in  1873  reversed  this 
idea,  and  they  learned  that  they  had  sold  all  the 
land,  and  that  government  graciously  allowed 
them  to  stay  on  the  reservation  according  to  its 
will.  In  the  spring  of  1875  they  were  forbidden 
to  cut  a  log  and  sell  it  off  of  the  reservation,  and 
found  that  they  had  no  rights  to  the  land  which 
the  government  was  bound  to  respect,  but  if  she 
wished  to  remove  them  at  any  time  she  couKl 
do  so. 

The  ((uestion  came  up  early  in  missionary  work. 
The  Indians  saiil  :  "  ^'ou  profess  to  be  Christians, 
and  you  have  promisetl  us  titles  to  our  land.  If 
these  titles  come  we  will  believe  your  religion  to 
be  true,  but  if  not  it  will  be  evidence  that  you  are 
deceiving  us." 

The  agent  worked  nobly  for  the  object,  but 
receiving  no  reply  for  a  long  linn-  he  ;;rjw  .duKc^t 
discouraged,  1  le  could  work  in  only  one  wav,  by 
writing  t(»  his  first  supi-rior  ofru-er.  hoping  that  he 
wouhl  suc-ces.>fuliy  i)re.ss  the  subject  upon  those 
more  iuiluentiul. 


(« 


n 


TIILES    TO    THEIR    /..L\'D. 


n 


About  this  time,  in  1878,  I  determined  to  sec 
what  I  could  do  through  another  channel :  through 
the  Board  of  Indian  Commissioners,  where  mis- 
sionaries would  naturally  look.  Accordingly,  in 
May,  a  long  letter  was  written  to  the  secretary  of 
the  American  Missionary  Association,  and  his  in- 
fluence was  invoked  to  work  upon  the  Board.  He 
gladly  did  so.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Con- 
gregational Association  of  Oregon  and  Washing- 
ton, in  June  of  the  same  year,  I  plead  strongly 
for  the  same  object,  whereupon  a  committee  of 
five  of  the  influential  men  of  the  denomination 
was  apjjointed,  who  drafted  strong  resolutions, 
which  were  passed  and  sent  to  the  Board  of  Com- 
missioners. The  fact  that  the  Bannack  Indians 
of  Eastern  Oregon  were  then  engaged  in  a  war 
with  the  whites,  and  that  they  had  attempted  to 
induce  the  Indians  of  Puget  Sound  In  assist  in  it, 
was  an  argument  used,  ;ind  of  no  small  weight.  I 
intended  to  urge  the  passage  of  similar  resolutions 
through  the  Presbytery  of  I'uget  .Sound,  anil  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Ccnfcr'-nco  of  Oregon,  l)oth 
of  whom  had  inissions  uunMig  the  Indians,  and 
were  asking  fur  similar  favors  from  the  govern- 
ment ;  but  l)c'ft)rc  tliosr  billies  met  1  received  a 
letter  from   lion.   1).   11,    leroniv.  of  the  B"i'  '     f 


I  — 


78 


TEyr   YEARS  .IT  SA'OA'OM/SI/. 


f*^v:a 


Commissioners,  who  had  been  appointed  a  commit- 
tee by  that  Board  in  regard  to  titles  of  Indians  to 
their  lands,  promising  to  press  the  matter  upon 
the  department  until  titles  should  be  issued,  or  a 
good  reason  given  for  not  doing  so,  and  requesting 
a  description  of  the  lands  for  which  titles  were 
asked.  I  gave  the  letter  to  the  agent,  who  had 
the  desired  information,  and  who  quickly  gave  it. 
The  Board  robly  fulfilled  its  promise,  and  in 
March,  1881,  certificates  of  allotment  were  sent 
to  the  Indians.  They  were  not  wholly  satisfac- 
tory. The  title  to  the  land  still  remained  in  the 
United  States.  They  saiil  that  each  Imliaii  i> 
entitled  to  lake  possession  of  his  laiul,  "and  the 
United  States  guarantees  such  possession,  and  will 
hold  the  title  therett^  in  trust  for  the  exclusive  use 
and  benefit  uf  himself  and  his  heirs  so  long  as 
such  occupancy  shall  continue."  It  prohibited 
them  from  selling  the  land  to  any  one  except 
other  members  of  tlic  same  tribe. 

These  cerlilicate.-.,  however,  proved  to  be  better 
than  w;is  at  first  feared.  It  was  decided  th.it 
under  them  the  Indians  had  a  rl^lU  to  sell  the 
timber  from  the  land.  The  Indians  were  .sati.sfied 
that  they  would  not  be  removed,  and  were  ([uicted. 

lutforts  are  still  being  made  to  obtain  the  patents, 


TITLES    TO    THEIR  LAND. 


79 


and  with  considerable  hope  of  success,  as  they 
have  been  granted  to  Indians  on  three  other 
reservations  on  Puget  Sound  through  the  efforts 
of  Agent  ICells,  l)ut  owing  to  various  causes  they 
have  not  been  obtained  as  yet  for  the  Sicokomish 
Indians. 

The  Clallam  Indians  liave  bought  their  land  or 
taken  it  by  homestead,  and  so  have  not  had  the 
same  difficulty  in  regard  to  titles.  One  incident, 
however,  occurred  which  was  rather  discouraging. 
Four  of  the  Clallam  Bay  Indians,  in  1879,  deter- 
mined to  secure,  if  possible,  the  land  on  which 
their  houses  stood.  They  were  sent  to  the  clerk 
of  the  Probate  Court,  who  knew  nothing  about 
the  land,  but  told  them  that  it  belonged  to  the 
government,  and  offered  to  get  it  for  the  usual 
fee,  nineteen  dollars  each.  They  paid  him  the 
seventy-six  dollars,  and  he  promised  to  send  it  to 
the  land-office  aiul  liave  their  papers  for  them  in 
two  weeks.  They  waited  the  two  weeks  but  no 
papers  came.  In  the  meantime  they  learned  that 
the  man  was  not  to  be  trusted,  although  he  could 
lawfully  attend  to  the  l)usiness,  and  that  the  land 
had  been  owned  by  jirivate  individuals  for  fifteen 
years.  I  h',  too,  on  writing  to  the  land-office, 
found  the  same  to  be  true.     Hut  the  (Hfficalty  was 


i 


80 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


to  get  the  money  back.  This  man  was  an  invet- 
erate gambler,  and  the  evidence  was  quite  plain 
that  he  had  gambled  the  money  off  very  soon 
after  he  received  it.  I  saw  him  soon  afterward, 
and  he  told  me  that  it  had  been  stolen,  that  he 
would  soon  get  it,  and  the  like.  One  Indian 
spent  three  weeks,  and  two  others  two  weeks 
each,  in  trying  to  recover  it,  but  failed  to  do  so. 
Then  the  agent  took  it  into  court,  but  through  an 
unjust  ruling  of  the  judge,  or  a  catch  in  the  law, 
he  was  neither  compelled  to  pay  it  nor  punished 
for  his  deed.  The  Indians  received  about  the 
amount  they  lost,  as  witness  fees  and  mileage  fv)r 
their  attendance  on  court.  Yet  that  man,  at  that 
time,  was  also  postmaster.  United  States  commis- 
sioner, iind  deputy  sheriff, , and  had  offered  fifty 
dollars  to  the  county  treasurer,  to  be  appointed 
his  deputy. 

This  was  a  strange  contrast  to  the  action  of  the 
Indians.  I  felt  very  sorry  for  them.  I''or  four 
years  we  had  been  advising  them  to  obtain  land, 
and  they  were  swindled  in  their  first  attempt. 
When  I  saw  them,  before  the  case  was  taken 
to  the  court,  I  was  fearful  lest  they  should 
become  discouraged,  and  offered  them  ten  dollars, 
saying,  "If  you  never  get  your  money,  I  will  lose 


i  I 


TITLES   TO   THEIR  LAND. 


8l 


this  with  you :  but  if  you  do  obtain  it,  you  can 
then  repay  me."  One  tenth  of  my  income  has 
long  been  given  to  the  Lord,  and  I  felt  that  thus 
much  would  do  as  much  good  here  as  anywhere. 
When  I  first  mentioned  this  to  them,  they  refused 
to  take  it,  saying  that  they  did  not  wish  me  to  lose 
my  money,  if  they  did  theirs  ;  but  two  weeks 
later,  when  I  left  the  last  one  of  them,  he  reluc- 
tantly took  it. 


X. 


MODE  OF   LIVING. 


!*•       .(••«» 


»t         -iJ  1 


II 


IN  1874  most  of  the  Indians  of  both  tribes  lived 
on  the  ground,  in  the  smoke,  in  their  large 
houses,  where  several  families  resided.  That  year 
the  agent  induced  those  on  the  reservation  to 
receive  lumber  as  a  part  of  their  annuity  goods, 
and  the  government  carpenter  erected  small 
frame-houses  for  most  of  them,  but  left  them  to 
cover  and  batten  the  houses.  They  were  slow  to 
do  so.  At  first  they  used  them  to  live  in  during 
the  summer,  but  during  the  winter  they  found 
these  houses  too  open  and  cold  and  returned  to 
their  smoke-houses.  It  was  two  or  three  years 
before  they  made  them  warm  enough  to  winter  in 
them,  but  since  that  time  nearly  all,  except  a  few 
of  the  very  old  ones,  have  lived  off  of  the  ground 
and  out  of  the  smoke.  Although  the  government 
gave  no  aid  to  those  living  off  of  the  reservation  to 
build  them  homes,  yet  about  three  fourths  of  them 
have  built  tor  themselves  similar  or  better  houses. 
Many  of  them  have  lived  near  saw-mills  where 
they  could  easily  get  lumber  for  their  houses. 


,30" 


MODE   OF  IJVLVG. 


83 


All  of  them  dress  in  citizen's  clothes,  and  they 
obtain  about  three  quarters  of  their  living-  from 
civilized  labor,  and  tlie  rest  by  fishing  and  hunt- 
ing, supposing  that  hunting  and  fishing  arc  not 
civilized  pursuits.  Many  of  them  liave  sewing- 
machines,  bureaus,  and  lace  curtains,  while  clocks 
and  watches,  chairs,  bedsteads,  and  dishes,  tables, 
knives  and  forks  are  very  common. 

Neatness.  —  It  is  easier  to  induce  them  to  have 
good  houses,  with  boaril  floors,  than  to  keep  them 
clean.  Grease  is  spilled  on  the  floor,  and,  ming- 
ling with  the  dirt,  sometimes  makes  the  air  very 
impure.  The  men  are  careless,  bring  in  dirt,  and 
spit  on  the  floor;  the  women  arc  sometimes  lazy, 
or  else,  after  trying,  become  discouraged  about 
keeping  the  house  clean. 

This  impure  air  has  been  the  cause  of  the  death 
of  many  of  their  cliildren.  They  breathe  the 
poison,  and  at  last  waste  away.  The  %kier  ones 
are  strong  and  can  endure  some  of  it,  and,  more- 
over, are  in  the  pure  air  outdoors  much  of  the 
time.  Ikit  tiic  little  ones  are  kept  in  the  house, 
are  so  weak  that  they  can  not  endure  such  air,  and 
they  die.  The  old  Indian  houses  on  the  ground 
had,  at  least,  two  atlvantages  over  the  board  floors, 
although    they    had    more    disadvantages.      The 


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84 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


ground  absorbed  the  grease,  as  boards  can  not ; 
and,  if  the  houses  became  too  bad,  they  could 
easily  be  torn  down  and  moved  a  few  yards  away 
to  a  better  place.  But  good  houses  are  too  costly 
for  this. 

Time,  teaching,  and  example  have,  however, 
worked  some  changes  for  the  better.  There  are 
many  of  the  Indian  women  who  wash,  at  least, 
the  floors  of  their  front  rooms  every  week.  Still 
the  bedrooms,  which  are  not  likely  to  be  seen,  are 
often  topsy-turvy,  and  the  kitchens  often  have  a 
bad  smell,  and  the  back  door  needs  lime  and 
ammonia.  Occasionally,  however,  a  house  is 
found  where  there  is  a  fair  degree  of  neatness 
all  the  way  through. 


f.,i 


XI. 


NAMES. 


\  ^yTHITE  people  do  not  usually  take  kindly  to 
^  ^  the  jaw-breaking  Indian  names,  hence  a 
"  Boston  "  name  has  generally  been  given  them. 
But  the  white  men  who  lived  around  Skokomish 
were  mostly  loggers,  who  among  themselves  went 
by  the  name  o''.  Tom,  Jack,  Jim,  and  the  like,  and 
seldom  put  Mr.  to  any  body's  name.  As  the 
Indians  mingled  with  them  they  received  similar 
names,  and  as  there  soon  came  to  be  several  of 
the  same  name,  they  were  distinguished  by  some 
prefix,  usually  derived  from  some  characteristic  — 
their  size,  or  the  place  from  which  they  came.  So 
we  had  Squaxon  Bill,  Chehalis  Jack,  Dr.  Bob,  Big 
John,  Little  Billy,  and  the  like.  These  were  bad 
enough,  but  when  their  children  came  to  take 
these  as  their  surnames,  they  sometimes  became 
comical,  for  we  had  Sally  Bob,  Dick  Charley,  and 
Sam  Pete.  Therefore,  we  soon  found  that  it  was 
best  to  give  every  school-child  a  decent  name, 
and  Bill's  son  George  became  George  Williams, 

86 


86 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


and  John's  boy  became  Henry  Johnson,  and 
Billy's  daughter  was  Minnie  Williamson,  and  so 
on.  At  first,  when  the  older  ones  were  married, 
it  was  done  with  the  old  Indian  nickname,  but  I 
soon  thought  that  if  in  time  they  were  to  become 
Americans  they  might  as  well  have  decent  names. 
So,  at  their  first  legal  recognition,  as  at  their 
marriage,  baptism,  or  on  entering  school,  they 
received  names  of  which  they  had  no  need  to  be 
ashamed  in  after  years. 


EDUCATION. 

"^  I  "'HIS  has  been  conducted  entirely  by  the  gov- 
-^  ernment,  but  generally  in  such  a  v.  ay  as  to 
be  a  handmaid  to  religion.  On  the  reservb  ""ion  a 
boarding-school  has  been  kept  up  during  '■^e  ten 
years  of  missionary  labor,  as  well  as  many  years 
before,  for  about  ten  months  in  the  year.  About 
half  of  the  time,  including  the  winter,  the  ochool 
has  been  kept  six  hours  in  the  day,  and  during  the 
rest  of  the  time  for  three  hours ;  the  scholars  being 
required  to  work  the  other  half  of  the  day  —  the 
boys  in  the  garden  getting  wood  '.nd  the  like, 
and  the  girls  in  the  house  sewing,  cooking,  house- 
keeping, and  doing  similar  things. 

The  position  of  the  one  in  charge  has  been  a 
difficult  one  to  fill,  for  it  has  been  necessary  that 
the  man  be  a  teacher,  disciplinarian,  handy  at 
various  kinds  of  work,  a  Christian,  and,  during  the 
last  year  and  a  half  after  the  agent  left,  he  had 
charge  of  the  reservation  ;  while  it  was  almost  as 
necessary  that  his  wife  be  matron,  with  all  the 

87 


■    Ml 


' 


88 


TFN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


qualifications  of  taking  care  of  a  family  of  from 
twenty  to  forty.  It  has  been  difficult  to  find  all 
these  qualifications  in  one  man  and  his  wife,  who 
were  willing  to  take  the  position  for  the  pay  which 
the  government  was  willing  to  give,  for  during  the 
later  years  the  pay  was  cut  dov/n  to  the  minimum. 
It  has  not  been  strange  that  with  all  the  burdens 
frequent  changes  have  taken  place.  There  have 
been  seven  teachers  in  the  ten  years,  but  most  of 
them  were  faithful,  some  of  them  serving  until 
their  heal  .a  failed.  Yet  the  school  has  been  car- 
ried on  generally  in  as  Christian  a  way  as  if  the 
Missionary  Society  had  had  charge  of  it.  All  of 
the  teachers  and  their  wives  have  been  Christians 
—  not  all  Congregationalists ;  for  it  has  been 
often  impossible  to  obtain  such  ;  in  fact,  only  three 
have  been ;  but  there  has  been  a  plain  under- 
standing with  the  others  that  they  should  teach 
nothing  in  regard  to  religion  which  conflicted  with 
the  teachings  from  the  pulpit  —  an  understanding 
which  has  been  faithfully  kept,  with  one  exception. 
In  1874  the  school  numbered  about  twenty-four 
scholars,  but  it  gradually  increased  until  it  num- 
bered about  forty,  which  was  more  than  all  the 
children  of  school  age  on  the  reservation,  though 
it  did  not  include  many  of  the  Clallams.     They 


Til 


EDUCATION. 


89 


were  so  far  away  that  it  was  not  thought  wise  to 
compel  them  to  remain  so  steadily  so  far  away 
from  their  parents  year  after  year. 

The  school  has  been  a  boarding-school,  for 
nearly  all  the  children  lived  from  one  to  three 
miles  away,  and  it  has  been  impossible  to  secure 
any  thing  like  regular  attendance  if  they  lived  at 
home,  while  some  have  come  from  ten  to  seventy 
miles  distant. 

Attendance  on  school  has  been  compulsory  — 
the  proper  way  among  Indians.  While  the 
parents  speak  well  about  the  school,  and  say  that 
they  wish  to  have  their  children  educated,  yet, 
when  the  children  beg  hard  to  stay  at  home, 
parental  government  is  not  strong  enough  to 
enforce  attendance,  especially  as  long  as  the 
parents  do  not  realize  the  value  of  education. 
The  children  have  not  all  liked  to  go  to  school, 
and  at  first  some  of  them  ran  away.  The  agent 
and  his  subordinates  could  tell  some  stories  of 
getting  runaway  children,  by  pulling  them  out  of 
their  beds,  taking  them  home  in  the  middle  of 
the  night,  and  the  like.  In  this  respect  the  govern- 
ment had  the  advantage  of  a  missionary  society, 
which  could  not  have  compelled  the  children  to 
attend  school. 


90 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISIT. 


There  was  no  provision  in  the  treaty  for  more 
than  one  school,  and  that  on  the  reservation. 
But  after  the  Clallams  at  Jamestown  had  bought 
their  land,  laid  out  their  village,  built  their  church, 
and  become  somewhat  civilized,  they  plead  so 
hard  for  a  school,  offering  the  use  of  the  church- 
building  for  the  purpose,  that  the  government  lis- 
tened to  them,  and  in  1878  sent  them  a  teacher. 
This  was  a  day-school,  because  funds  enough  were 
furnished  to  pay  only  a  teacher,  and  nearly  all  the 
children  lived  in  the  village  within  less  than  a 
half-mile  from  the  school.  A  very  few  of  the 
children  walked  daily  five  or  six  miles  to  school, 
and  some  of  the  better  families  of  the  village  did 
nobly  in  making  sacrifices  to  board  their  relations, 
when  the  parents  would  not  furnish  even  the  food 
for  their  children.  This  school  has  varied  in 
numbers  from  fifteen  to  thirty  children,  and  has 
been  conducted  in  other  respects  mainly  on  the 
same  principles  as  the  one  on  the  reservation.  It 
has  been  of  great  advantage  to  the  settlement. 

A  few  of  the  rest  of  the  Clallam  children, 
whose  parents  were  Catholics,  have  sent  their  chil- 
dren to  a  boarding-school  at  Tulalip,  a  Catholic 
agency,  and  others  have  not  gone  to  school,  there 
being  difficulties  in  the  way  which  it  has  been 
almost  or  quite  impossible  to  overcome. 


It 


EDUCATION. 


91 


The  schools  have  been  conducted  entirely  in 
English.  This  is  the  only  practicable  plan,  for 
the  tribes  connected  with  the  school  speak  three 
different  languages,  and  it  is  impossible  to  have 
books  and  newspapers  in  their  languages,  while 
teachers  can  not  be  found  who  are  willing  to 
acquire  any  one  of  these  languages  sufficiently 
well  to  teach  it.  It  is  also  the  only  wise  plan. 
If  the  Indian  in  time  is  to  become  an  American 
citizen,  —  and  that  is  the  goal  to  be  reached,  — 
he  must  speak  the  English  language,  and  it  is  best 
to  teach  it  to  him  while  young.  In  large  tribes 
like  the  Sioux,  where  the  children  will  speak  their 
native  language  almost  wholly  after  they  leave 
school,  and  where  there  are  enough  of  them  to 
make  it  pay  to  publish  books  and  papers  in  their 
own  tongue',  it  is  probably  best  to  have  the  schools 
in  their  native  language,  as  a  transition  from  one 
language  to  the  other.  This  transition  will  neces- 
sarily take  a  long  time  among  so  large  a  number 
of  Indians,  and  needs  the  stepping-stone  of  native 
schools  and  a  native  literature  to  aid  it.  But 
where  the  Indian  tribes  are  small,  as  is  the  case 
on  Puget  Sound,  and  surrounded  by  whites  with 
whom  they  mingle  almost  daily,  who  are  con- 
stantly speaking  English  to  them,  this  stepping- 


% 


W 


92 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMrSlI. 


stone  is  not  needed.  It  is  possible  for  tlie  next 
generation  to  be  mainly  English-speaking  in  this 
region  ;  in  fact,  most  of  them  will  understand  it 
whether  they  go  to  school  or  not,  and  it  is  not 
wise,  were  it  possible,  to  retard  it  by  schools  in 
the  native  language. 


CORRECTING    THOMSON  S    PRACTICAL   ARITHMETIC. 

An  incident  occurred  in  the  school,  in  1878, 
worthy  of  note.  One  of  the  scholars  in  arithme- 
tic found  four  examples  which  he  could  not  do, 
and  after  a  time  took  them  to  his  teacher,  Mr. 
G.  F.  Boynton,  for  assistance.  After  the  teacher 
(who  was  a  good  scholar)  had  tried  them  to  his 
satisfaction,  he  found  that  there  was  a  mistake 
about  the  answers  in  the  book  and  told  the  boy 
so,  and  then,  in  a  half-joking  way,  said  to  him  : 
"  You  had  better  write  Dr.  Thomson  and  tell  him 
about  it."  The  boy  did  so,  telling  also  who  he 
was.  In  due  time  he  received  a  reply  from  Dr. 
Thomson,  who  said  that  two  of  the  mistakes  had 
been  discovered  and  corrected  in  later  editions, 
but  that  the  other  two  had  not  before  been  found  ; 
and  then  he  wondered  how  an  Indian  boy  out  in 
Washington  Territory  should  be  able  to  correct 
his  arithmetic.  He  invited  the  boy  to  continue 
the  correspondence,  but  I  believe  he  never  did. 


XIII. 


THE   FOURTH    OF  JULY. 


r 


ii 


'  I  ^HIS  day  has  always  been  celebrated  in  some 
■*■  way,  at  least  by  a  dinner.  During  the  first 
few  years  the  agent  furnished  the  beef  and  most 
of  the  provisions  at  government  expense.  On  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1874,  among  other  exercises,  I 
married  seven  couples  ;  on  the  next  Fourth,  three 
couples,  and  in  1878  four  more.  Speech-making 
by  some  of  the  whites,  explaining  the  day,  and 
music  were  interspersed.  Long  tables  have  usually 
been  made,  on  which  were  dishes,  knives,  and 
forks,  while  beef,  bread,  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  cake, 
pie,  rice,  beans,  doughnuts,  and  such  things  were 
the  principal  food. 

It  was  not  until  1878  that  they  took  upon  them- 
selves the  main  burden  of  the  day,  both  of  ex- 
pense and  labor,  and  since  that  time  they  have 
furnished  both.  The  following,  from  the  Tacoma 
Herald  oi  July,  1879,  will  answer  for 

THE  FOURTH  OF  JULY  ON  SKOKOMISH  RESERVATION. 

"  Among  the  Indians,  from  all  appearances,  the 
Fourth  of   July  will  probably  in  time  take  the 


I 


94 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISIE 


place  of  the  potlatch.  The  latter  is  spoken  of  by 
their  white  neighbors  as  being  so  foolish,  while 
the  former  is  held  in  such  high  esteem  ;  and  as 
Indians,  like  others,  enjoy  holidays  and  festivals, 
it  now  seems  as  if  the  potlatch  would  be  merged 
into  the  Fourth,  changed  a  little  to  suit  circum- 
stances and  civilization.  The  potlatch  has  always 
been  given  by  a  few  individuals  to  invited  guests 
and  tribes,  presents  of  money  and  other  things 
being  made  to  those  who  came,  while  in  return  a 
great  name  and  honorable  character  was  received, 
It  lasts  several  days  or  weeks  and  is  accompanied 
by  gambling,  feasting,  tamahnous,  and  the  like. 

"  The  Fourth  of  July  on  the  Skokomish  Reser- 
vation began  about  a  week  beforehand  and  so 
lasted  as  long  as  a  short  potlatch.  The  Nisqually 
and  Puyallup  Indians,  having  resolved  to  have 
celebrations  of  their  own,  the  attendance  was 
smaller  than  it  otherwise  would  have  been.  The 
Chehalis  Indians  came  a  full  week  before  the 
Fourth  in  wagons  and  on  horseback,  while  those 
from  Squaxon,  Mud  Bay,  and  Seabeck  came 
between  that  time  and  the  Fourth.  A  few  of  the 
Skokomish  Indians  were  at  the  head  of  the  cele- 
bration, bore  most  of  the  expense,  and  received 
most  of  the  honor.     Other  Indians  besides  these 


\ 


T^ 


THE  FOURTH  OF  JULY. 


95 


few,  however,  occasionally  invited  all  the  visitors 
to  a  feast.  The  guests,  on  arriving  at  Skokomish, 
brought  more  or  less  food  with  them,  —  much  as 
at  a  potlatch,  only  on  a  smaller  scale,  —  and  they 
were  received  with  less  ceremony.  A  ta'^lc  a 
hundred  feet  long  was  made  in  a  pleasant  bhady 
grove,  uiiu  nere  for  more  than  a  week  —  when  the 
gLi^sts  were  not  invited  to  the  house  of  some 
friend  to  a  meal  —  they  feasted  on  beef,  beans, 
rice,  sugar,  tea,  coffee,  and  the  like :  sitting  on 
benches,  eating  with  knives,  forks,  and  dishes,  and 
cooking  the  food  on  two  large  stoves  brought  to 
the  grounds  for  the  purpose ;  visiting,  horse- 
racing,  and  other  sports  filled  up  the  rest  of 
the  time. 

"  The  Fourth  was  the  central  day  of  the  festival 
and  was  celebrated  in  much  the  same  style  with 
the  other  days,  only  on  a  larger  scale,  there  being 
more  Indians  present,  more  flags  flying,  more 
firing  of  guns,  and  more  whites  on  the  grounds. 
By  invitation  the  whites  on  the  reservation  were 
present  and  were  assigned  to  a  very  pleasant  place 
on  the  grounds,  where  they  might  ''ave  had  tables 
if  they  had  done  as  the  Indians  did :  made  them 
for  themselves  ;  but,  as  it  was,  they  picnicked  on 
the  ground,  while  their  colored  brethren  sat  at  the 
tables.     A  few  white  men,  rather  the  worse  for 


ill 


mmmm 


96 


TEjV  yea  MS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


liquor,  visited  the  horse-races  after  the  dinner; 
but  not  an  Indian  is  known  to  have  tasted  liquor 
during  the  week." 


?^ 


The  Clallam  Indians  seldom  have  celebrations 
of  their  own.  They  usually  attend  those  of  the 
whites  near  them,  often  being  invited  to  take  part 
in  canoe-races.  There  has  always  been  much 
drunkenness  among  the  whites  at  these  times  ; 
the  Indians  have  often  been  sorely  tempted  to  do 
the  same,  and  many  of  them  have  fallen  then  who 
seldom  have  done  so  at  other  times. 

The  Fourth  of  July,  1884,  in  many  respects  has 
the  best  record  at  the  reservation.  It  was  indeed 
not  the  greatest,  most  expensive,  or  most  numer- 
ously attended.  As  the  leading  ones  had  decided 
not  to  have  any  horse-racing  or  betting,  the 
younger  ones  thought  that  they  could  have  no  cel- 
ebration, and  it  was  only  the  day  before  that  they 
decided  to  have  one.  It  consisted  of  a  feast,  after 
which  they  went  to  the  race-track.  I  felt  fearful 
that  some  professing  Christians  would  fall,  but 
thought  it  not  best  for  me  to  go  near  that  place, 
but  leave  them  and  await  the  result.  When  the 
report  came,  it  was  that,  while  they  had  some  fun 
with  their  horses,  hardly  any  of  which  was  regular 
racing,  not  a  cent  had  been  bet  by  any  one. 


.  wn' «F.iwin'i.»ii«jj  II ,  1 11 1  umi9p<9<9i|Pf9lfipiliiniVllF 


1 


XIV. 

CHRISTMAS. 

"  I  ^HIS  day  has  been  celebrated  with  as  much 
-^  regularity  as  the  Fourth  of  July,  but  the 
former  remains  yet  as  our  affair,  while  the  latter 
has  passed  into  their  hands.  They  have  no  build- 
ing large  enough  to  contain  much  of  a  celebration 
of  the  day.  The  church  is  at  the  agency,  and  is 
the  most  suitable  building  for  the  purpose,  and 
the  exercises  naturally  center  around  the  school, 
so  the  older  Indians  come  to  us  on  Christmas,  and 
we  go  to  them  on  the  Fourth. 

Usually  there  have  been  some  speeches  made, 
and  presents  from  the  government,  school-supplies 
to  the  Indian  school-children.  Private  presents 
have  been  made  among  the  whites,  but  it  has 
only  been  during  the  last  two  or  three  years  that 
the  outside  Indians  have  taken  much  interest  in 
this  custom  of  ours.  Indeed,  during  the  first  few 
years  generally  but  few  of  them  were  present. 
It  was  far  from  their  homes,  the  nights  were 
dark,  the  roads  muddy,  so  that  they  did  not  take 


98 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


much  interest  in  it,  but  as  the  first  school-children 
have  grown  up  they  have  kept  up  the  idea  they 
received  in  school,  and  imparted  it  to  others,  and 
of  late  years  a  good  share  of  them  have  been 
present.  On  Christmas  1882  and  1883  they  made 
quite  a  number  of  private  presents ;  more  on  the 
last  one  than  ever  before.  Usually  nuts  and  candy 
have  been  provided  from  contributions  by  the 
whites,  and  apples  which  are  raised  at  the  agency 
for  the  older  Indians.  A  Santa  Claus  Christmas- 
tree,  or  something  of  the  kind,  has  been  the  usual 
way  for  distributing  the  presents.  The  report  of 
the  Sabbath-school  for  the  year  has  been  a  central 
item  in  the  exercises,  showing  the  attendance,  the 
number  of  times  each  has  been  on  the  roll  of 
honor,  with  the  distribution  of  some  extra  present 
to  those  who  have  been  highest  on  this  roll. 

In  1878  quite  an  exhibition  was  made  by  the 
school,  consisting  of  pieces  spoken,  dialogues, 
compositions,  tableaux,  and  the  like.  In  1879  I 
arranged  so  that  about  twenty  of  the  aged  Indians, 
who  had  neither  land  nor  good  houses,  came  to 
the  agency  and  had  a  dinner  of  rice,  beans,  bread, 
and  tea.  This  was  new  to  them,  they  generally 
being  the  neglected  ones,  but  I  thought  it  to  be 
according  to  the  principles  of  the  New  Testament. 


CHRISTMAS. 


99 


The  celebration  for  1883  suited  me  better  than 
any  previous  one  in  many  respects.  The  first 
part  of  the  exercises  were  more  of  a  religious 
service  than  usual  —  more  of  a  celebration  of 
Christ's  birth.  This  idea  suited  also  the  minds 
of  the  Indians  better  than  to  have  it  mainly  con- 
sist of  sport.  The  Indian  girls  did  nearly  all  the 
singing  and  playing,  six  of  them  playing  each  one 
piece  on  the  organ.  The  year  before  three  of 
them  had  done  so,  but  this  year  it  was  still  better. 
Then  five  of  the  older  Indians  made  speeches, 
including  two  of  the  chiefs  and  two  of  the  young 
men  who  had  been  in  school.  This  was  new  for 
them  on  this  day.  More  of  the  Indians  also  made 
private  presents  than  ever  before.  Thus  they 
took  up  the  work,  as  the  whites  who  previously 
had  done  it  had  been  discharged,  and  it  is  better 
for  them  to  do  so. 

The  people  at  Jamestown  for  several  years  have 
had  a  celebration  of  their  own,  consisting  often  of 
a  Christmas-tree,  and  they  have  borne  the  whole 
expense.  I  have  never  been  present,  but  they 
have  always  been  spoken  of  as  enjoyable  affairs, 
a  good  number  of  the  surrounding  whites  feeling 
that  it  was  a  pleasant  place  for  them  to  spend  the 
evening. 


XV. 

VARIETY. 

JACK-AT-ALL-TRADES  and  good  at  some  " 
was  the  pleasant  way  in  which  Dr.  Philip 
Schafi  put  it,  when  som  -  of  the  students  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Hart^^ord,  Connecticut, 
had  done  up  some  furniture  for  him,  to  send  to 
New  Haven.  I  have  often  been  reminded  of  this, 
as  I  have  had,  at  times,  to  take  up  a  variety  of 
work.  Missionaries  among  the  Indians  have  to  be 
the  first  part  of  the  sentence  and  console  them- 
selves with  the  hope  that  the  latter  part  may 
sometimes  prove  true. 

On  one  tour  among  the  Clallams,  I  find  the 
following :  When  three  miles  from  home,  the  first 
duty  was  to  stop  and  attend  the  funeral  of  a  white 
man.  Forty-five  miles  on,  the  evening  of  the 
next  day  until  late  at  night,  was  spent  in  assisting 
one  of  the  government  employees  in  holding 
court  over  four  Indians,  who  had  been  drunk ;  a 
fifth  had  escaped  to  British  Columbia  and  was 
safe  from  trial.     This  kind  of  business  occasion- 

m 


i 


<  ■ 


VARIETY. 


lOI 


I 


ally  comes  in  as  an  aid  to  the  agent.  I  seldom 
have  any  thing  to  do  with  it  on  the  reservation, 
as  the  agent  can  attend  to  it ;  but  when  off  from 
the  reservation,  where  neither  of  us  can  be  more 
than  once  in  six  months  or  thereabouts  it  some- 
times saves  him  much  trouble  and  expense,  ar.d 
seems  to  do  as  much  good  as  a  sermon.  It  is 
of  but  little  use  to  preach  to  drunken  Indians, 
and  a  little  law  sometimes  helps  the  gospel. 
The  agent  reciprocates  by  talking  gospel  to  them 
on  the  Sabbath  on  his  trips. 

On  reaching  Jamestown,  the  afternoon  was 
spent  in  introducing  an  Indian  from  British 
Columbia,  who  had  taken  me  there  in  his  canoe, 
to  the  Clallam  Indians  and  the  school ;  and  in 
comforting  two  parents.  Christian  Indians,  whose 
youngest  child  lay  at  the  point  of  death.  The 
next  day  she  died,  and,  as  no  minister  had  ever 
Lc^a  among  these  Indians  at  any  previous  funeral, 
they  needed  some  instruction.  So  it  was  my  duty 
to  assist  in  digging  the  grave  and  making  the 
coffin,  comfort  them,  and  attend  the  funeral  in  a 
snow-storm. 

The  Sabbath  was  spent  in  holding  two  services 
with  them,  one  of  them  being  mainly  a  service  of 
song ;  and,  as  there  was  a  part  of  the  day  unoc- 


m 


I02 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


cupied,  at  the  request  of  the  whites  near  by  I 
gave  them  a  sermon.  The  next  day  I  found  that 
"Blue  Monday"  must  be  adjourned.  Years  ago 
the  Indians  purchased  their  land,  but  owing  to  a 
mistake  of  the  surveyor,  it  was  necessary  that  the 
deeds  should  be  made  out  again.  So,  in  order  to 
get  all  the  Indians  together  who  were  needed, 
with  the  proper  officer,  I  walked  fourteen  miles, 
rode  six  in  a  canoe,  and  then,  after  half-past  three 
o'clock,  saw  that  nineteen  deeds  were  properly 
signed,  which  required  sixty -two  signatures, 
besides  the  witnessing,  acknowledging,  and  filing 
of  them,  which  required  seventy-six  more  signa- 
tures. The  plat  of  their  town  —  Jamestown — was 
also  filed  and  recorded.  When  this  was  done,  I 
assisted  the  Indians  to  obtain  two  marriage- 
licenses,  after  which  we  went  to  the  church, 
where  I  addressed  them  on  two  different  subjects, 
and  then  the  two  weddings  took  place,  and  by 
nine  o'clock  we  were  done. 

The  monotony  of  the  next  day  was  varied  by  a 
visit  to  the  school ;  helping  the  chief  to  select  a 
burying-ground  (for  their  dead  had  been  buried  in 
various  places)  ;  a  walk  of  ten  miles  and  a  wed- 
ding of  a  white  couple,  v:^o  have  been  very  kind 
to  me  in  my  work  there,  one  of  them  being  a 
member  of  the  Jamestown  church. 


VARIETY. 


103 


On  my  way  home,  while  waiting  for  the 
steamers  to  connect  at  Port  Gamble,  I  took  a 
trip  of  about  fifty  miles,  to  Port  Madison  and 
back,  to  help  in  finishing  the  Indian  census  of 
1880  for  General  F.  A.  Walker  and  Major  J.  W. 
Powell ;  and  then  on  my  way  home,  by  the  kind- 
ness of  the  captain  of  the  steamer,  who  waited 
half  an  hour  for  me,  I  was  able  to  assist  the  chief 
in  capturing  and  taking  to  the  reservation  the 
fifth  Indian  at  Port  Gamble  who  had  been  drunk, 
and  had,  by  that  time,  returned  from  the  British 
side. 

The  variety  of  another  trip  in  1878  is  thus 
recorded  :  As  to  food,  I  have  done  my  own  cook- 
ing, eaten  dry  crackers  only  for  meals,  been 
boarded  several  days  for  nothing,  and  bought 
meals.  As  to  sleeping,  I  have  stayed  in  as  good 
a  bed  as  could  be  given  me  for  nothing,  and  slept 
in  my  own  blankets  in  an  Indian  canoe,  because 
the  houses  of  the  whites  were  too  far  away  and 
the  fleas  were  too  thick  in  the  Indian  houses. 
They  were  bad  enough  in  the  canoe,  but  the 
Indians  would  not  allow  me  to  go  farther  away, 
for  fear  that  the  panthers  would  catch  me.  As  t9 
work,  I  have  preached,  held  prayer-meetings,  done 
pastoral   work,    helped   clean   up   the    streets    of 


n 


104 


7'£N   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


Jamestown,  been  carpenter  and  painter,  dedicated 
a  church,  performing  all  the  parts,  been  church 
organist,  studied  science,  acted  for  the  agent,  and 
taken  hold  of  law  in  a  case  where  whiskey  had 
been  sold  to  an  Indian,  and  also  in  making  a  will. 
As  to  traveling,  I  have  been  carried  ninety  miles 
in  a  canoe  by  Indians,  free,  paid  an  Indian  four 
dollars  for  carrying  me  twenty  miles,  have  been 
carried  twenty  more  by  a  steamer  at  half-fare,  and 
twenty  more  on  another  for  nothing,  have  rode  on 
horseback,  walked  fifty  miles,  and  "paddled  my 
own  canoe  "  for  forty-five  more. 

I  have  never  had  a  vacation  since  I  have  been 
here,  unless  such  things  as  these  may  be  called 
vacation.  They  are  recreation,  work,  and  vaca- 
tion, all  at  once.  They  are  variety,  and  that  is 
rest,  the  vacation  a  person  needs,  with  the  satis- 
faction that  a  person  is  doing  something  at  the 
same  time. 


XVI. 


MARRIAGE   AND   DIVORCE. 


'T^HE  Indian  idea  of  the  marriage  bond  is  that 
"^  it  is  not  very  strong.  They  have  been  ac- 
customed to  get  married  young,  often  at  fourteen 
or  sixteen  years  of  age,  to  pay  for  their  wives  in 
money  and  articles  to  the  value  of  several  hundred 
dollars,  and  the  men  have  had,  oftentimes,  two 
or  three  wives. 

When  they  married  young,  in  order  that  two 
young  fools  should  not  be  married  together,  often 
a  boy  was  married  to  an  elderly  woman,  and  a 
young  girl  to  an  elderly  man,  so  that  the  older 
one  could  take  care  of  the  younger,  with  the  ex- 
pectation that  when  the  younger  one  should  grow 
older  if  they  did  not  like  each  other  they  should 
be  divorced. 

Such  ideas  naturally  did  not  suit  the  govern- 
ment, the  agent,  or  the  Bible.  The  agent  has  had 
about  all  the  children  of  school  age  in  school,  and 
thus  had  control  of  them,  so  that  they  could  not 
get  married  as  young  as  formerly.     In   1883  the 

105 


io6 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


government  sent  word  to  prevent  the  purchase  of 
any  more  wives,  and  this  has  been  generally  acqui- 
esced in  by  the  Skokomish  Indians.  Some  of  the 
Clallam  Indians,  however,  are  so  far  from  the 
agent,  and  are  so  backward  in  civilization,  that  it 
has  not  been  possible  to  enforce  these  two  points 
among  them  as  thoroughly  as  among  the  Twanas. 
The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  in  his 
report  for  1878,  recommended  the  passage  of  a 
law  compelling  all  Indians  who  were  living  to- 
gether as  man  and  wife  to  be  married.  The  law 
has  not  been  made,  but  the  agent  worked  on  the 
same  principles  long  before  1878  —  indeed  ever 
after  he  first  took  charge  in  1871.  He  urged 
them  to  be  married,  making  for  a  time  special 
presents  from  government  annuities  to  those  who 
should  consent,  as  a  shawl  or  ladies'  hat,  and  some 
consented.  Only  two  couples  had  been  thus  mar- 
ried when  I  went  there.  It  seemed  rather  comical 
on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1874,  when  I  had  been  on 
the  reservation  only  about  two  weeks,  to  be  asked 
to  join  in  marriage  seven  couples,  some  of  whom 
had  children.  One  Sabbath  in  1883  a  couple 
stood  up  to  be  married,  the  bride  having  a  baby 
in  her  arms,  and  she  would  probably  have  held  it 
during  the  ceremony  had  not  my  wife  whispered 


i' 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE. 


107 


to  a  sister  of  the  bride  to  go  and  get  it.  During 
the  ten  years  I  have  married  twenty-six  couples 
among  the  Twanas,  and  twenty-nine  couples  among 
the  Clallams,  and  a  number  of  other  Clallams  have 
been  married  by  other  persons.  Some  very  comi- 
cal incidents  have  occurred  in  connection  with 
some  of  these  ceremonies.  In  1876  I  was  called 
upon  to  marry  eleven  couples  at  Jamestown.  All 
went  well  with  the  first  ten,  the  head  chief  being 
married  first,  so  that  the  others  might  see  how  it 
was  done,  and  then  nine  couples  stood  up  and 
were  married  with  the  same  set  of  words.  But 
the  wife  of  the  other  man  was  sick  with  the 
measles.  She  had  taken  cold  and  they  had  been 
driven  in,  but  had  come  out  again,  so  that  she  was 
as  red  as  a  beet.  Still  they  were  afraid  that  she 
would  die,  and  as  I  was  not  to  be  there  again  for 
several  months  they  were  very  anxious  to  be  mar- 
ried so  as  to  legalize  the  children.  She  was  so 
near  death  that  they  had  moved  her  from  their 
good  house  to  a  mat-house,  which  was  filled  with 
smoke.  The  fire  was  thrown  out,  and  soon  it 
became  less  smoky.  She  was  too  sick  to  stand, 
and  only  barely  able  to  sit  up.  This,  however, 
she  managed  to  do  in  her  bed,  which  was  on  the 
ground.     Her  husband  sat   beside   her  and   took 


io8 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SA'O/COMISIf. 


her  hand,  and  I  married  them,  measles  and  all. 
She  afterward  recovered. 

At  another  time  I  tnarried  a  couple  who  had 
homesteaded  some  land,  and  who  had  been  mar- 
ried in  Indian  style  long  before.  As  they  had 
never  seen  such  a  ceremony  I  took  the  man  aside 
and  explained  it  to  him  as  well  as  I  was  able. 
After  I  had  begun  the  ceremony  proper,  and  had 
said  the  words  :  "  You  promise  to  take  this  woman 
to  be  your  wife,"  and  was  ready  to  say  :  "  You 
promise  to  love  and  take  care  of  her,"  he  broke 
out,  saying,  "  Of  course  I  do !  You  do  not  sup- 
pose that  I  have  been  living  with  her  for  the  last 
fifteen  years  and  am  going  to  put  her  away  now, 
do  you  .^  See,  there  is  my  boy,  fourteen  years 
old.  Of  course  I  do ! "  As  it*  was  no  use  to  try 
to  stop  him,  I  did  not  try,  but  waited  until  he  was 
through,  when  I  said :  "  All  right,"  and  went  on 
with  the  ceremony,  but  laughed  very  hard  in  my 
sleeve  all  the  time. 

A  girl  in  the  boarding-school  was  to  be  married, 
and  her  schoolmates  thought  that  it  ought  to  be 
done  in  extra  style.  Thanks  to  the  teacher  and 
matron,  the  supper  and  their  share  of  the  duties 
passed  off  in  an  excellent  manner.  But  five  of  the 
girls  thought  that  they  would  act  as  bridesmaids, 


y 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE, 


109 


and  they  were  left  to  manage  that  part  among 
themselves.  Each  one  chose  a  young  man  who 
had  previously  been  in  school  to  act  as  her  escort. 
Thinking  that  they  would  hardly  know  how  to 
act  with  so  much  ceremony,  I  invited  them  to  my 
house  fifteen  minutes  before  the  marriage  was  to 
take  place  in  church,  so  that  I  could  instruct  them. 
They  came  on  time,  but  what  was  my  surprise  to 
see  the  bride  and  groom  and  the  five  girls  march 
into  my  house,  but  not  a  single  groomsman,  and 
they  thought  that  it  was  all  right,  even  if  their 
partneis  did  not  come.  Those  whom  they  had 
expected  were  off  in  the  woods,  or  at  home,  or  if 
near  by,  were  far  from  being  dressed  for  the  occa- 
sion, while  the  bridesmaids  had  spent  a  long  time 
in  getting  themselves  ready,  and  were  in  full  dress. 
What  a  time  I  had  hunting  up  partners  for  them  ! 
I  had  to  borrow  clothes  for  those  who  were  on  the 
ground,  others  whom  I  wished  felt  that  they  had 
been  slighted  so  long  that  they  did  not  care  to 
to  step  into  such  a  place  then,  and  the  ceremony 
was  delayed  some  before  it  could  all  be  arranged. 
But  how  I  was  surprised  to  see  five  bridesmaids 
march  in  without  a  single  partner  ! 

At  another  time,  as  a  sub-chief,  well   dressed, 
came  forward  to  be  married,  he  began  to  pull  ofi 


m 


fm 


IIO 


T£JV  yJSAA'S  AT  SKOKOMISII, 


\l 


his  coat  as  if  ready  for  a  fight,  although  his  inten- 
tions were  most  peaceable.  I  told  him  that  it  was 
just  as  well  to  let  his  coat  remain  on,  and  he 
obeyed. 

The  following  is  from  The  Port  Townsend  Argus 
of  December  2,  1 88 1  :  — 

"  Married.  —  Clallam  Bay  is  alive !  One  of  the 
sensations  of  the  season  occurred  at  that  place  on 
the  sixteenth  of  November,  and  is  news,  though 
not  published  till  this  late  day.  Five  of  the  citi- 
zens having  complied  with  the  laws  of  the  Terri- 
tory in  regard  to  licenses  were  married  by  Rev. 
M.  Eells  to  their  respective  partners.  Nearly  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  place  assembled,  without 
regard  to  race  or  color,  some  of  whom  had  come 
from  miles  distant.  First  came  a  short  address  by 
Mr.  Eeils  on  the  history  of  marriage,  beginning 
with  the  days  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  setting  forth 
some  of  the  reasons  against  polygamy  and  divorce, 
after  which  Mr.  Charles  Hock-a-too  and  Mrs.  Tau- 
a-yi  stood  up.  Mr.  H.  has  been  the  only  Mormon 
of  the  place,  having  had  two  whom  he  called  wives, 
but  being  more  progressive  than  the  Mormons,  he 
boldly  resolved  to  choose  only  one  of  them,  and 
cleave  only  to  her  so  long  as  they  both  should  live. 
When  the  marriage  ceremony  was   over,  and   he 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE. 


I  I  I 


was  asked  if  thus  he  promised  to  do,  he  replied  in 
a  neat  little  speech,  fully  as  long  as  the  marriage 
ceremony,  very  different  from  the  consent  of  some 
persons  whom  the  public  presume  to  hsive  said  yes, 
simply  because  silence  gives  consent.  It  is  im- 
possible to  reproduce  the  speech.  It  will  live  in 
the  memories  of  those  who  heard  it,  however,  as 
coming  from  an  earnest  heart  and  being  all  that 
could  be  desired.  The  bride  did  not  blush  or 
faint,  but  also  made  her  speech,  showing  that  she 
knew  what  was  said  to  her.  After  this  the  four 
other  couples  stood  up,  Mr.  Long  John  Smittain 
and  Kwash-tun,  alias  E-ni-so-ut ;  Mr.  Tom  Jim- 
myak  and  >Val-lis-mo ;  Captain  Jack  Chats-oo-uk 
and  Nancy  Hwa~tsoo-ut  ;  also  Mr.  Old  Jack  Klo- 
tasy,  father  of  the  Captain,  and  Mary  Cheenith. 
In  regard  to  the  ages  of  the  last  two,  from  what 
we  learn,  the  familiar  lines  would  apply  :  — 

'  Ho\"  old  is  she,  Billy  boy,  Billy  boy, 
How  old  is  she,  charming  Billy?' 
*  She  's  three  times  six,  four  times  seven, 
Twenty-eight  and  eleven. 
She  's  a  young  thing  and  can  not  leave  her  mother.' 

While  she  probably  is  not  eighty-five,  yet  she  was 
old  enough   to   obtain   a   license   and   leave    her 


m 

St* 


112 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


mother.  He  was  about  seventy  years  old.  These 
were  all  married  with  one  set  of  words,  when  con- 
gratulations followed  —  regular  hand-shaking,  none 
of  those  present  so  far  forgetting  themselves  as  to 
indulge  in  the  (im)propriety  of  kissing  the  brides. 
The  ceremony  having  been  concluded,  a  part  of 
those  present,  the  invited  guests  (but  here  there 
was  a  distinction  as  to  race  and  color)  sat  down 
to  the  marriage-feast.  It  was  none  of  your  light, 
frosted,  airy  cake  (in  fact,  there  was  not  any  cake 
in  sight),  but  substantial  solid  bread  and  the  like. 
[Here  the  line  went  down,  and  the  meager  accounts 
we  could  gather  about  the  elegant  and  varied  cos- 
tumes worn  by  the  charming  bries,  the  number 
and  appearance  of  the  bridesmaius,  etc.,  had  better 
be  supplied  from  the  vivid  imaginations  of  the 
readers.]  All  of  the  high  contracting  parties,  we 
may  say,  however,  are  ta.x-paycrs  of  Clallam  County 
and  land-owners.     KlosJie  haJikiva  ("good  so"). 

Not  much  of  a  direct  war  was  waged  on  plural 
marriages.  They  were  simjjly  fenced  in  and 
allowed  to  die  out.  In  1874  there  were  only  five 
Twana  men  who  had  more  than  one  wife,  and 
there  were  about  as  many  more  among  the  Clal- 
lams.  Those  who  had  one  wife  were  never  allowed 
to  obtain  another  as  long  as  they  were  living  with 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE. 


113 


the  first.  When  one  of  the  wives  died  of  those 
who  had  more  than  one,  or  was  wilUngly  put 
away,  they  were  not  allowed  to  take  another  in 
her  place.  On  some  reservations  where  plural 
marriages  have  been  numerous,  the  plan  has  been 
adopted  of  having  the  man  choose  one  of  his 
wives  as  the  one  to  whom  he  should  be  legally 
married ;  and  then,  in  order  to  save  the  others 
and  their  children  from  suffering,  they  have  been 
told  to  provide  for  them  until  the  women  should 
be  married  to  some  other  man.  Among  these 
Indians  it  has  now  come  to  be  practically  the 
same.  One  is  the  real  wife,  and  the  others  are  so 
old  that  they  are  simply  taken  care  of  by  their 
husbands,  except  when  they  take  care  of  them- 
selves, until  they  shall  get  married  again  ;  only 
they  do  not  get  married  to  any  one  else,  being 
willing  to  be  thus  cared  for. 

They  soon  learned  that  a  legal  marriage  meant 
more  than  an  old-fashioned  Indian  one  and  that  a 
divorce  was  difficult  to  obtain.  The  agent  took 
the  position  that  he  had  no  legal  right  to  grant  a 
divorce  even  on  the  reservation,  and  that  if  the 
parties  obtained  one  they  must  apply  to  the 
courts.  This  involved  too  much  expense,  and  so 
not  a  divorce  has  been  obtained  by  those  legally 


lu 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


married.  But  it  has  taken  a  long,  strong,  firm 
hand  to  compel  some  of  the  parties  to  live 
together,  and  this  made  others  of  them  somewhat 
slow  to  be  legally  married.  One  day  I  asked  a 
man  who  had  then  recently  obtained  a  wife, 
Indian  fashion,  if  he  wished  to  be  married  in 
white  style.  "  I  am  a  little  afraid,"  he  said,  "that 
we  shall  not  get  along  well  together.  I  think  we 
will  live  together  six  months ;  and  then,  if  we  like 
each  other  well  enough,  we  will  have  you  perform 
the  ceremony."  It  was  never  done,  for  they  soon 
separated. 

The  most  severe  contest  the  agent  ever  had 
with  the  Indians  on  the  reservation  was  to  pre- 
vent divorce.  In  1876  one  man,  whose  name  was 
Billy  Clams,  had  considerable  trouble  with  his 
wife  and  wanted  f,  divorce,  but  the  agent  would 
not  allow  it.  He  cried  every  plan  he  could  think 
of  to  make  them  uve  peaceably  together,  and  con- 
sulted with  the  chiefs  and  the  relations  of  the  par- 
ties ;  but  they  would  .still  quarrel.  At  one  time 
he  put  him  in  charge  of  his  brother-in-law,  a 
policeman,  with  handcuffs  on  ;  but  with  a  stone  he 
knocked  them  off  and  went  to  the  house  of  his 
uncle,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  agency.  To 
this  place  the  agent  went  with  two  Indians  and 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE. 


115 


told  him  to  go  with  him.  With  an  oath  Billy 
Clams  said  he  would  not.  The  agent  then  struck 
him  with  a  stick  quite  severely.  Billy  got  a  larger 
stick,  which  the  agent  wrenched  from  him.  Then 
Billy  grabbed  the  agent  around  the  waist,  and, 
with  the  help  of  his  uncle,  threw  him  down.  The 
other  Indians  who  went  with  the  agent  took  them 
off.  Then  the  agent  locked  the  door  and  sent  the 
friendly  Indians  to  the  agency  for  two  white  men, 
the  carpenter  and  the  blacksmith,  for  help.  Twice 
Billy  and  his  uncle  tried  to  take  the  key  away 
from  the  agent,  but  failed  ;  three  times  Billy  tried 
to  get  out  of  the  window,  but  the  agent  stopped 
him.  Then  they  made  an  excuse  that  a  very  old 
man  must  go  out ;  and  while  the  agent  was  letting 
him  go,  Billy  ran  across  the  room,  struck  the  mid- 
dle of  the  window  with  his  head,  and  went  through 
it ;  and  the  agent  went  so  quickly  out  in  the  same 
way,  that  he  lit  on  Billy'c  iieck  with  one  foot,  after 
which  the  window  fell  on  him,  and,  as  he  was 
knocking  that  off,  Tilly  got  away  and  ran  through 
the  wo'^ds.  Being  swift  of  foot,  he  escaped ;  but 
there  had  been  a  fresh  fall  of  snow,  and  the  agent 
and  two  white  men,  with  a  number  of  Indians, 
followed  him  all  day.  They,  however,  could  not 
take  him.  The  agent  at  night  offered  a  reward  of 
thirty  dollars  if  any  of  the  Indians  would  bring 


ii6 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


him  in  ;  but  their  sympathies  were  too  much  with 
him,  and  at  night  one  sub-chief  and  his  son,  with 
a  cousin  of  Billy  Clams,  helped  him  off,  and  he 
went  to  some  relations  of  his  at  Port  Madison, 
sixty  or  seventy  miles  away.  The  next  day  Billy's 
uncle  was  put  in  irons  in  the  jail,  and  not  long 
after  those  who  had  furnished  Billy  with  a  cane- 
blarkets,  and  provisions  also  went  into  the  jail, 
while  the  sub-chief  was  deposed.  The  Indians 
worked  in  every  way  possible  to  have  them  re- 
leased, but  the  agent  said  that  he  would  only  do 
so  on  condition  that  Billy  Clams  should  be  brought 
in.  They  had  said  that  they  did  not  know  where 
he  was ;  but  in  a  short  time  after  the  agent  said 
this,  he  came  in  and  delivered  himself  up  and  was 
confined  in  the  jail  for  six  months.  But  a  number 
of  the  Indians,  including  the  head  chief  and  a  sub- 
chief,  encouraged  by  some  white  men  near  by,  had 
been  to  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  made  out 
several  charges  against  the  agent  for  various 
things  done  during  all  his  residence  among  them, 
and  had  them  sent  to  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  at  Washington.  The  principal 
charges  were  for  shooting  at  an  Indian  (or  order- 
ing an  employee  to  do  so),  burning  ten  Indian 
houses,  selling  annuity  goods,  collecting  large 
fines  for  small  offences,  and  having  the  employees 


MARRIAGE  AND  DIVORCE. 


117 


work  for  him.  The  real  cause  of  their  sending 
these  was  the  trouble  with  Billy  Clams  and  his 
friends.  The  commissioner  sent  to  General  O.  O. 
Howard,  in  charge  of  the  military  department  of 
the  Columbia,  and  requested  him  to  investigate 
the  charges.  The  commissioner  said  that  on  the 
face  of  the  letter,  it  bore  evidence  of  being  un- 
true ;  but  still  he  desired  General  Howard's 
opinion.  Accordingly  Major  W.  H.  Boyle  was 
detailed  for  this  purpose.  He  examined  six 
Indians  and  three  white  men,  as  witnesses  against 
the  agent,  and  one  white  employee  in  his  favor,  — 
giving  the  agent  an  opportunity  to  defend  himself, 
—  and  found  that  the  charges  amounted  to  so 
nearly  nothing  that  he  went  no  further. 

After  Billy  Clams  had  served  out  his  term  of 
six  months  in  jail,  he  secretly  abandoned  his  wife 
and  took  another,  and  then  they  ran  away  to  Port 
Madison.  The  agent  quietly  bided  his  time,  found 
out  the  whereabouts  of  the  offending  party,  and, 
with  a  little  help  from  the  military,  had  him 
arrested  and  conveyed  to  Fort  Townsend,  where 
he  worked  six  months  more,  with  a  soldier  and 
musket  to  watch  him.  This  showed  the  Indians 
that  they  could  not  easily  run  away  from  the 
agent,  or  break  the  laws  against  divorce,  and 
greatly  strengthened  his  authority  among   them. 


m 


XVII. 

SICKNESS. 

'T^HE  department  of  the  physician  has  always 
-*■  been  a  discouraging  one.  The  government, 
for  twenty-five  years,  has  furnished  a  physician  free, 
and  yet  it  is  difficult  to  induce  the  Indians  to  rely 
on  him.  There  are  three  reasons  for  this  :  (i) 
The  natural  superstition  an  Indian  has  about  sick- 
ness. This  has  been  quite  fully  discussed  under 
the  head  of  native  religion.  (2)  The  Indian 
doctor  does  not  like  to  have  his  business  inter- 
fered with  by  any  one.  It  is  a  source  of  money 
and  influence  to  him,  and  he  often  uses  his  influ- 
ence, which  is  great  among  the  Indians,  to  pre- 
vent the  use  of  medical  remedies.  (3)  If  a 
medicine  given  by  the  physician  does  not  cure  in 
a  few  doses,  or,  at  least,  in  two  or  three  days,  they 
think  it  is  not  strong,  or  it  is  good  for  nothing  — 
so  often  when  medicine  is  given,  with  directions 
how  to  use  it,  it  is  left  untouched  or  thrown  away. 
When  using  medicine  they  often  employ  an 
Indian  doctor,  and  his  practices  often  kill  all  the 

m 


S/CKA'ESS. 


119 


good  effects  of  medicine,  so  that  sometimes  the 
physicians  have  felt  that,  when  Indian  doctors 
were  employed,  it  was  almost  useless  for  them  to 
do  any  thing. 

At  the  same  time  there  have  been  some  things 
which  have  aided  our  methods  very  materially. 
Under  the  head  of  native  religion,  two  cases  have 
been  given,  where  it  seemed  to  the  Indians  as  if 
their  mode  was  true.  This  has  occasionally  been 
the  effect  with  older  people.  But  with  young 
children,  too  young  to  go  to  school,  the  opposite 
has  been  true.  Infants  have  continually  died. 
Their  mortality  has  been  very  great,  when  they 
lived  at  home,  where  they  could  have  all  the 
Indian  doctors  they  wanted  with  no  one  to  inter- 
fere. The  medicine-men  have  been  especially 
unfortunate  in  losing  their  own  children.  One 
Indian  doctor  has  buried  twelve  and  has  only 
three  left.  Another  has  buried  four  and  has  one 
left.  And  others  have  lost  theirs  in  like  propor- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  in  the  school,  where  we 
could  have  more  control  over  them,  both  as  to 
observing  the  laws  of  health  and  the  use  of  medi- 
cine, when  they  were  sick  there  have  been  very 
few  deaths.  Only  five  children  in  ten  years  have 
died  in  school,  or  been  taken   fatally  sick   while 


I20 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


there,  while  the  attendance  has  been  from  twenty- 
five  to  forty. 

During  November  and  December,  1881,  we 
passed  through  a  terrible  sickness.  It  seemed 
to  be  a  combination  of  scarlet  fever,  diphtheria, 
measles,  and  chicken-pox,  about  which  the  physi- 
cian knew  almost,  nothing.  It  was  a  new  hybrid 
disease,  as  we  afterward  learned.  .  The  cases  were 
mostly  in  the  school  and  in  the  white  families, 
there  being  comparatively  few  among  the  outside 
Indians.  There  were  sixty  cases  in  five  weeks, 
an  average  of  two  new  ones  every  day.  At  one 
time  every  responsible  person  in  the  fjchool  was 
down  with  it.  A  number  of  the  children,  while 
all  the  physician's  family,  himself  included,  had  it, 
and  one  of  them  lay  dead.  Five  persons  died 
with  it,  but  not  one  of  them  was  a  scholar.  There 
were  then  twenty-four  scholars,  and  all  but  three 
had  it.  Nineteen  outside  Indians  had  it,  of  whom 
three  died.  The  rest,  who  were  sick  and  died, 
belonged  to  the  white  families  and  the  Indian 
apprentices  and  employees.  The  favor  which  was 
shown  to  the  school  in  saving  their  lives  was  of 
great  value  to  it. 

And  now  the  older  Indians  are  gaining  more 
and  more  confidence  in  the  physician,  slowly  but 


SICA'NESS. 


121 


steadily,  some  within  a  year  having  said  that  they 
will  never  have  an  Indian  doctor  again.  In  the 
winter  of  1883-84,  four  Indian  children  died,  and 
not  an  Indian  doctor  was  called.  In  one  case  the 
parents  had  just  buried  one,  and  another  was 
fatally  sick.  The  parents  came  to  mc  and  said  :  "  If 
you  can  tell  us  what  medicine  will  cure  the  child, 
we  will  go  to  Olympia  and  get  it  (thirty  miles  dis- 
tant). We  do  not  care  for  the  expense,  we  do  not 
care  if  it  shall  cost  fifty  dollars,  if  you  will  only 
tell  us  what  will  cure  it."  The  child  died,  but 
they  had  no  Indian  doctor,  although  its  grand- 
father strongly  urged  the  calling  of  one.  After 
the  death  of  these  two  children,  the  family  went 
to  live  with  an  aunt  of  the  mother's,  where  they 
remained  about  five  months.  At  that  time  a 
child  of  this  aunt  was  sick,  and  an  Indian  doctor 
was  called,  whereupon  the  bereaved  family  left  the 
house,  because  they  did  not  wish  to  remain  in  a 
house  where  such  practices  were  countenanced, 
even  if  those  doing  so  were  kind  relations. 


XVIII. 


FUNERALS. 


"  I  ^HE  oldest  style  of  burial  was  to  wrap  the 
■^  body  in  mats,  j^lacc  it  in  one  canoe,  cover 
it  with  another,  elevate  it  in  a  tree  or  on  a  frame 
erected  for  the  purpose,  and  leave  it  there,  bury- 
ing with  it  valuable  things,  as  bows,  arrcvvs, 
canoes,  haiquu  ^hells  (their  money),  stone  imple- 
ments, clothes,  anu  .  ''ke.  After  the  whites 
came  to  this  region,  the  dead  were  placed  in 
trunks,  and  cloth,  dishes,  money,  and  the  like 
were  added  to  the  valuables  which  were  buried 
with  them. 

But  one  such  burial  has  +akv.-n  place  within  ten 
years,  and  that  was  the  daughter  of  an  old  man. 
The  next  step  toward  civilization  was  to  bury  all 
the  dead  in  one  place,  instead  of  leaving  them 
scattered  anywhere  they  might  chance  to  die, 
make  a  long  box  instead  of  using  a  trunk  and 
canoe,  and  elevate  it  on  a  frame  made  for  the 
purpose  only  a  few  feet  high,  or,  perhaps,  simply 
lay  it  on  the  ground,  erecting  a  small  house  over 

122 


FUNERALS. 


123 


it.     This  was  frequently  done  during  the  first  few 
years  after  I  was  here. 

On  the  opening  of  a  new  burying-ground,  in 
August,  1878,  the  head  chief  of  the  Twanas  said 
to  me  :  "  To-day  we  become  white  people.  At  this 
burying-ground  all  will  be  buried  in  the  ground, 
and  no  clotli  or  other  articles  will  be  left  around, 


Ci.ALi.AM  Graves  at  Port  Gamble. 

These  are  painted,  with  no  cloth  on  them.     («)  Looking-ghiss. 
(i5)  A  shelf,  on  which  is  a  lx)wl,  teapot,  etc.,  with  rubber  toys  floating  in  them, 
such  as  ducks,  fish,  etc. 

at  least,  above  ground."  At  that  place  this  prom- 
ise has  been  faithfully  kept,  as  far  as  I  know, 
though  since  that  time,  at  other  places,  they  have 
left  some  cloth  above  ground.  They  often  yet  fill 
the  coffin,  now  generally  made  like  those  of  white 
people,  with  much  cloth  and  some  other  things. 


m 


Am 


1 


i  i 


mmmmmmmmmimm 


wmmmmm'i'm 


124 


rE.V   YJiAi:S  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


A  grave-stone,  which  cost  thirty  dollars,  marks 
the  last  resting-place  of  one  man,  put  there  by 
his  wife. 

Most  of  them  had  a  superstitious  fear  of  going 
near  a  dead  body,  for  they  were  afraid  that  the  evil 
spirit,  which  killed  the  deceased  was  still  around 


Fig,  I, 


Fig.  2. 


These  are  grave-enclosures  at  the  burying-ground  at  the  Skokomish  Rcserva- 
lion.  In  Figures  i  and  3  they  arc  covered  altogether  with  tlolh,  and  that  which 
is  not  colored  is  white.  Figure  3  is  chiefly  covered  with  a  red  blanket;  a  in 
Figure  1  is  a  glass  window,  through  which  a  red  shawl  covers  the  cofTin,  which  is 
placed  a  foot  or  so  above  the  ground.  In  all  grave-enclosures  which  I  have  seen 
where  glass  windows  are  placed  the  cofTin  is  aljove  groiuul.  Sometimes  more  than 
one  is  placed  in  an  enclosure.  Figure  2  is  almost  entirely  after  llie  American 
fashion,  and  was  made  last  year.  —  (December,  1877.) 


and  would  kill  others  who  might  be  near.     This, 
together  with  the  fact  that  they  cared  but  little 


FUNERALS. 


125 


for  Christianity,  made  them  have  no  desire  to 
have  Christian  services  at  their  funerals  at  first. 
Before  I  came,  only  one  such  service  had  been 
held.  And,  for  the  first  few  years  after  I  ca.ne, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  both  agent  and 
missionary,  there  were  but  few  such  services. 
Sometimes  they  would  hurry  off  a  deceased  per- 
son to  the  grave,  and  I  would  not  hear  of  the 
death  until  after  the  burial,  much  less  have  a 
chance  to  ask  whether  they  wished  for  such 
services. 

But  steady  effort,  together  with  the  example  of 
the  surrounding  whites,  who,  previous  to  my 
arrival,  had  had  no  minister  to  hold  such  services, 
in  time  produced  a  change,  so  that  they  wished 
for  them  at  the  funerals  of  all  persons  whom  they 
considered  of  much  importance.  At  the  funeral 
of  one  poor  vagabond,  who  had  almost  no  friends, 
I  had  my  own  way,  and  many  thought  it  very 
strange  that  I  should  hold  such  a  service.  It  wa.5 
well  enough,  they  said,  with  persons  of  conse- 
quence, but  with  such  a  person  they  thought  it 
useless. 

Not  long  after  they  opened  their  new  burying- 
ground,  already  spoken  of,  I  was  absent  from 
home  when  one  person  died.     When  I  returned,  a 


I 


iir'-'is 


If 

m 
I 


If 


i 


i 


'M 


i 


Mil    I 


Ml.' 


i 


1    ' 


126 


THJV   YEAIiS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


sub-chief  said  to  me :  "  Wc  felt  badly  when  we 
buried  a  person  and  no  white  man  was  present  to 
say  a  Christian  word.  We  wish  that  when  you 
are  away,  you  would  make  arrangements  with 
some  of  the  whites  at  the  agency  to  attend  our 
funerals,  for  we  want  such  services."  Since  then, 
I  have  almost  constantly  held  them,  except  when 
they  preferred  to  have  the  Indian  Catholic  priest 
to  attend  them. 

But  now  a  new  error  arose  at  the  other 
extreme.  This  was  that  such  services  helped  the 
soul  of  the  deceased  to  reach  heaven.  It  came 
from  Catholic  teaching.  I  have  had  to  combat  it 
constantly,  but  some  believe  it  still. 

I\Iost  of  the  Clallams  now  put  their  dead  in  the 
ground.  Those  who  are  Catholics  have  a  funeral 
service  by  their  own  priest.  In  February,  1881,  I 
was  at  Jamestown,  when  a  child  of  Cook  House 
Billy  died.  T  went  through  with  the  services  — 
the  first  Christian  ones  that  had  ever  been  held 
there.  They  soon  asked  how  they  should  do  if 
J  were  absent,  and  I  instructed  thcPi  as  best  I 
could.  Since  then  the  Christian  part  of  the  com- 
munity have  obtained  a  min'ster  of  any  Protestant 
denomination,  if  there  was  one  to  be  obtained,  to 
hold  services  at  their  funerals. 


FUNERALS. 


THE    DEATH    OF    SKAGIT    BILL. 


127 


Skagit  Bill  was  in  early  days  an  Indian  Catholic 
priest,  but  afterward  went  back  to  his  gambling, 
drinking,  and  tamahnous.  He  died  in  August, 
1875,  of  consumption.  When  he  was  sick,  he 
came  to  the  agency,  where  he  remained  for  five 
weeks  for  Christian  instruction.  He  seemed  to 
think  the  old  Indian  religion  of  no  value,  and 
wished  for  something  better.  Sometimes  I 
thought  that  he  leaned  on  his  Catholic  baptism 
for  salvation,  and  sometimes  I  thought  not.  His 
dying  request  was  for  a  Christian  funeral  and 
burial,  with  nothing  but  a  plain  fence  around  his 
gr.i ve.  The  following,  from  the  pen  of  Mrs.  J.  M. 
VVa'k'^r,  and  taken  from  the  Pacific  Christian 
/n'vi.--itc,  gives  the  opinions  of  one  other  than 
m_,    -If .  — 

"  ''  csterday  came  to  us  fraught  with  solemn 
intc.est.  Our  flag  hung  at  half-mast,  reminding 
us  that  death  had  been  in  our  midst  and  chosen 
another  victim.  This  time  he  has  not  selected 
one  rich  in  the  treasures  of  this  world,  of  high 
Idrth  or  noble  blood,  or  boasting  much  culture  or 
!,  ^'nement.  The  lowly  mien  and  dusky  com- 
plexion of  the  deceased  might  not  have  attracted 
much  attention  from  me  or  you,  kind  reader.     But 


fl- 

si 


ir 


128 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


such  are  they  whom  our  blessed  Lord  delights  to 
honor;  and,  while  we  turn  wearily  from  one  to 
another,  look  j  ^  "nly  for  suitable  soil  in  which 
to  plant  the  scet .  >  true  righteousness  and  true 
holiness,  the  Holy  Spirit  descends  on  some  lonely, 
barren  spot,  and  lo  !  before  our  astonished  gaze 
springs  into  luxuriant  growth  a  plant  of  rare 
holiness,  meet  even  to  be  transplanted  into  the 
garden  of  paradise. 

"  I  think  it  is  not  a  common  thing  for  a  dying 
Indian  to  request  a  strictly  Christian  burial;^ 
brought  up  as  they  are  in  the  midst  of  supersti- 
tion, with  no  religion  but  misty  traditions  and 
mysterious  necromancy,  the  very  fabulousness  of 
which  seems  strangely  adapted  to  their  nomadic 
existence  —  surely  no  influence  less  potent  than 
that  of  God's  Holy  Spirit  could  induce  one  of 
them,  while  surrounded  by  friends  who  cling 
tenaciously  to  their  heathenism  and  bitterly 
resent  any  innovations  of  Christian  faith,  to 
renounce  the  whole  system  with  its  weird  cere- 
monies, and  demand  for  himself  the  simple 
burial  service  used  ordinarily  by  Christians. 

"At  eleven  o'clock  a.m.  the  coffin  was  brought 
into     the     church,   and     the     funeral     discourse 

i  It  was  not  at  that  time,  at  this  place. 


FUNERALS. 


129 


preached ;  and  we  all  felt  that  the  occasion  was 
one  of  deep  solemnity.  Probably  every  one 
present  had  seen  dear  friends  lying,  as  this  man 
now  lay,  in  the  icy  embrace  of  death,  and  the 
keen  pain  in  our  own  hearts,  at  the  remembrance 
of  our  unhealed  wounds,  made  us  sympathize 
deeply  with  the  afflicted  mourners  in  their  pres- 
ent bereavement.  What  is  so  potent  to  bind 
human  hearts  together  in  purest  sympathy  and 
kindest  charity  as  common  woe ! 

"  A  beautiful  wreath  lay  upon  the  coffin,  formed 
and  given,  I  suspect,  by  the  agent's  wife,  a  lady 
possessing  rare  nobility  of  mind  and  heart,  and 
eminently  fitted  for  the  position  she  occupies. 
This  delicate  token  I  deemed  emblematic ;  for  as 
each  bud,  blossom,  and  sprig  fitted  its  respective 
place,  giving  beauty  and  symmetry  to  the  whole, 
so  all  of  God's  creatures  fit  their  respective 
places,  and  the  absence  of  one  would  leave  a 
void :  and  so  also  in  heaven's  economy  the 
diadem  of  the  Prince  of  Light  is  set  with 
redeemed  souls  of  nationalities  varied  and  diverse, 
each  so  essential  to  its  perfection,  that  the  highest 
ransom  of  which  even  Omniscience  could  con- 
ceive has  been  paid  for  it. 

"  Quite  a  number  of  Indians  were  present,  and 


I30 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISl 


as  the  deceased  had  been  with  them  and  they  had 
seen  him  die  happy  in  his  faith  in  Christ  and  his 
atonement,  a  rare  opportunity  offered  for  bring- 
ing the  truth  home  to  their  hearts. 

"  The  Indians  here  are,  for  the  most  part,  shrewd 
and  intelligent,  capable  of  reasoning  on  any  sub- 
ject, where  their  judgment  is  not  darkened  by 
superstition  ;  but,  alas  !  most  of  them  are  in  the 
gall  of  bitterness  and  bond  of  iniquity.  .  .  .  The 
body  was  taken  for  interment  to  a  grave-yard 
some  three  miles  from  here.  Our  esteemed  pastor, 
Rev.  M.  Eells,  pr;-ached  the  funeral  discourse,  and 
also  officiated  at  the  grave,  aided  on  each  occasion 
by  the  usual  interpreter  [Mr.  John  F.  Palmer],  a 
man  of  considerable  intellectual  culture,  of  gen- 
tlemanly bearing,  and  pleasant  address.  This 
man,  though  greatly  superior  to  any  of  his  race 
whom  I  have  met,  is  yet  humble  and  strives  to  do 
his  fellows  good  in  a  quiet,  unostentatious  man- 
ner, worthy  the  true  disciple  of  the  meek  and 
lowly  Jesus,  which  can  not  fail  of  great  results, 
whether  he  live  to  enjoy  them  or  not. 

"What  is  so  refining  in  i*:s  influences  as  true 
religion  }  It  expands  the  mind,  ennobles  the 
thought,  corrects  the  taste,  refines  the  manners 
by  the  application  of  the  golden  rule,  and  works 


FUNERALS. 


131 


marvelous  transformations  in  character.  May  a 
glorious  revival  of  this  pure  religion  sweep  over 
our  ^and,  carrying  away  the  bulwarks  of  Satan  and 
leaving  in  their  stead  the  'peaceable  fruits  of 
righteousness,*  until  every  creature  shall  exclaim  : 
*  Behold,  what  hath  God  wrought !  Sing,  O  ye 
heavens,  for  the  Lord  hath  done  it ! '  a." 


ill 


XIX. 


THE   CENSUS    OF    1880. 


I 


N  the  fall  oi  1880  the  government  sent  orders 
to  the  agent  to  take  i  .e  census  of  all  the 
Indians  under  him  for  the  United  States  decennial 
census.  To  do  so  among  the  Clallams  was  the 
most  difficult  task,  as  they  were  scattered  for  a 
hun  'red  and  fifty  miles,  and  the  season  of  the 
year  made  it  disagreeable,  with  a  probability  of  its 
being  dangerous  on  the  waters  of  the  lower  sound 
in  a  canoe.  I  was  then  almost  ready  to  start  on  a 
tour  amongst  a  part  of  them  and  the  agent  offered 
to  pay  my  expenses  if  I  would  combine  this  with 
my  missionary  work.  He  said  that  it  was  almost 
impossible  for  him  to  go ;  that  none  of  the  em- 
ployees were  acquainted  either  with  the  country 
or  the  large  share  of  the  Indians ;  that  he  should 
have  to  pay  the  expenses  of  some  one ;  and  that 
it  would  be  a  favor  if  I  could  do  it.  I  consented, 
for  it  was  a  favor  to  me  to  have  my  expenses  paid, 
while  I  should  have  an  opportunity  to  visit  all  of 
the  Indians;  but  it  was  December  before  I  was 

132 


THE   CENSUS  OF  iSSo. 


133 


fairly  able  to  begin  the  work  and  it  required  four 
weeks. 

In  early  life  I  had  read  a  story  about  taking  the 
census  ampng  some  of  the  ignorant  people  of  the 
Southern  States  and  the  superstitious  fear  that 
they  had  of  it,  and  I  thought  that  it  would  not  be 
strange  if  the  Indians  should  have  the  same  fear. 
My  previous  acquaintance  with  them  and  espe- 
cially the  intimacy  I  had  had  with  a  few  from 
nearly  every  settlement  who  had  been  brought  to 
the  reservation  for  drinking  and  had  been  with  us 
some  time  and  whose  confidence  I  seemed  to 
have  gained,  I  found  to  be  of  great  advantage  in 
the  work.  Had  it  not  been  for  these,  I  would 
have  found  it  a  very  difficult  task. 

The  questions  to  be  asked  were  many — forty- 
eight  in  number,  including  their  Indian  as  well  as 
"Boston"  names,  the  meaning  of  these,  the  age, 
and  occupation  ;  whether  or  not  a  full  blood  of  the 
tribe ;  how  long  since  they  had  habitually  worn 
citizen's  dress  ;  whether  they  had  been  vaccinated 
or  not ;  wliether  or  not  they  could  read  and  write ; 
the  number  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  swine,  dogs, 
and  fire-arms  owned ;  the  amount  of  land  owned 
or  occupied ;  the  number  of  years  they  had  been 
self-supporting,   and    the    per    cent,    of    su*^port 


"'    1 


134 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


obtained  from   civilized   industries   and   in   other 
ways. 

I  began  the  work  at  Port  Gamble  one  evening, 
and  after  much  talk  secured  nineteen  names,  but 
the  next  forenoon  I  only  obtained  six.  The  men 
were  at  work  in  the  mill,  and  the  women,  afraid, 
were  not  to  be  found.  I  then  hired  an  interpreter, 
a  boy  who  had  been  in  school,  and  after  talking 
a  while  had  no  more  difficulty  there.  The  best 
argument  I  could  use  why  it  was  required  was 
that  some  people  said  they  were  nothing  but 
worthless  Indians,  and  that  it  was  useless  to  try  to 
civilize  them  ;  that  some  of  us  thought  differently 
and  wished  for  facts  to  prove  it,  and  when  found, 
that  they  would  be  published  to  the  world.  And 
this  I  did  in  the  Port  Toivnseiid  Argus  and  Ameri- 
can Antiquarian.  One  man  refused  to  give  me 
any  information  because  that,  years  before,  a 
census  had  been  taken  and  soon  after  there  had 
been  much  sickness,  and  he  was  afraid  that  if  his 
name  were  written  down  he  would  die.  But  I 
easily  obtained  the  information  most  needed  from 
others.  I  was  almost  through,  and  was  at  Sea- 
beck,  the  last  town  before  reaching  home,  when  I 
found  the  only  one  who  was  at  all  saucy.  He 
gave  me  false  names  and  false  information  gener- 


THE   CENSUS   OF  jSSo. 


135 


ally,  as  I  soon  learned  from  another  Indian  pres- 
ent and  it  was  afterward  corrected.  The  ages  of 
the  older  ones  were  all  unknown,  but  the  treaty 
with  the  tribe  was  made  twenty-five  years  previ- 
ous, and  every  man,  woman,  and  child  was  present 
who  possibly  could  be,  and  I  could  generally  find 
out  about  how  large  they  were  then.  When  I 
asked  the  age  of  one  man  he  said  two  years,  but 
he  said  he  had  two  hundred  guns.  He  was  about 
forty-three  years  old  and  had  only  one  gun.  To 
obtain  the  information  about  vaccination  was  the 
most  difficult,  as  the  instructions  were  that  they 
should  show  me  the  scars  on  the  arm  if  they  had 
been  vaccinated,  and  many  of  them  were  ashamed 
to  do  this.  As  far  as  I  knew,  none  of  them  made 
a  false  statement.  When  about  half-way  through 
I  met  Mr.  H.  W.  Henshaw,  who  had  been  sent 
from  Washington  to  give  general  information 
about  the  work,  and  he  absolved  them  from  the 
requirement  of  showing  the  scar.  He  said  that  all 
that  was  needed  was  to  satisfy  myself  on  the 
point.  On  this  coast,  a  dime  is  called  a  bit, 
although  in  reality  a  bit  is  half  a  quarter,  and 
the  Indians  so  understand  it.  In  finding  how 
nearly  a  pure  Clallam  one  man  was,  I  was  informed 
that  he  was  partly  Clallam  and  partly  of  another 


^ir 


II 


I    I? 


136 


T/-:y   YEAj\.-i   JT  SA'OA'OM/S//. 


riT; 


!  lii 


tribe.     But  when  I  tried  to  Pnd  out  how  mueh  of 
the  other  tribe  I  was  told  :  "  Not  much  ;  a  bit,  I 


guess. 


I  was  instructed  to  take  the  names  of  not  only 
those  who  were  at  home,  but  of  a  number  who 
were  across  the  straits  on  the  liritish  side,  whose 
residence  might  properly  be  said  to  be  on  this 
side.  In  asking  about  one  man  I  was  told  that  he 
had  moved  away  a  long  time  ago,  very  long,  tivo 
thousand  years,  probably,  and  so  was  not  a  mem- 
ber of  the  tribe. 

It  struck  me  that  some  pictures  of  myself,  with 
descriptions  of  them  would  have  adorned  Harper's 
MontJily  as  well  as  any  of  Porte  Crayon's  sketches. 
With  an  old  Indian  man  and  his  wife  I  sat  on  the 
beach  in  Port  Discovery  Bay  all  day  waiting  for 
the  wind  to  die  down,  because  it  was  unsafe  to 
proceed  in  a  canoe  with  the  snow  coming  down 
constantly  on  one  of  the  coldest  days  of  the  year, 
with  a  mat  up  on  one  side  to  keep  a  little  of  the 
wind  uff.  and  a  small  fire  on  the  other  side  ;  and, 
at  last,  we  had  to  give  up  and  return  to  Port  Dis- 
covery, as  the  wind  would  not  die.  I  waked  up 
one  morning  on  the  steamer  Dispatch  to  have  a 
drop  of  water  come  directly  into  my  eye,  for  there 
was  a  hard  rain,  and  the  steamer  overhead  (not 


THE   CEMSUS   OF  jSSo. 


137 


underneath)  was  leaky.  I  got  up  to  find  my  shirt 
so  wet  that  I  dared  not  put  it  on,  while  the  water 
in  the  state-room  above  me  was  half  an  inch  deep 
and  was  shoveled  out  with  a  dust-pan.  I  walked 
from  the  west  to  the  east  end  of  Clallam  Bay, 
only  two  miles,  but  while  trying  to  find  a  log 
across  the  Clallam  River  !  wandered  about  a  '  mg 
time  in  the  woods  and  brush,  wet  with  a  heavy 
rain,  and  when  I  did  find  il  it  reached  just  not 
across  the  river,  but  within  a  few  feet  of  the  bank, 
and  I  stood  deliberating  whether  it  was  safe  or 
not  to  make  the  jump  ;  trying  to  jump  and  not 
quite  daring  to  run  the  risk  of  falling  into  the 
river,  sticking  my  toes  and  fingers  into  the  bank, 
and  the  like,  but  at  last  made  the  crossing  safely. 
It  took  half  a  day  to  travel  those  two  miles.  I 
ate  a  Sunday  dinner  at  Elkwa,  between  church- 
services,  of  some  crumbs  of  sweet  cake  out  of  a 
fifty-pound  flour-sack,  so  fine  that  I  had  to  squeeze 
them  up  in  my  hands  in  order  to  get  them  into 
my  mouth.  An  apple  and  a  little  jelly  finished 
the  repast  —  the  last  food  I  had.  At  Port  An- 
geles I  rode  along  the  beach  on  horseback  at  high 
tide,  and  at  one  time  in  trying  to  ford  a  slough  I 
found  we  were  swimming  in  the  water.  I  partly 
dried  out  at  an  Indian  house  near  by,  taking  the 


I 


'3<^ 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


census  at  the  same  tine.  Again,  the  steamer 
Dispatch  rolled  in  a  gale,  while  the  water  came 
over  the  gunwales,  the  food  and  plates  slid  off  the 
tables,  the  milk  spilt  into  gum  boots,  the  wash-dish 
of  water  upset  into  a  bed,  and  ten  minutes  after  I 
left  her  at  Dunginess  the  wind  blew  her  ashore, 
dragging  her  anchors.  But  there  were  also  some 
special  providences  on  the  trip.  "  He  who  will  no- 
tice providences  will  have  providences  to  notice," 
some  one  has  said,  and  I  was  reminded  of  this 
several  times.  I  came  in  a  canoe  from  Clallam 
Bay  to  Elkwa,  the  most  dangerous  part  of  the 
route,  with  the  water  so  smooth  that  a  small  skiff 
would  have  safely  rode  the  whole  distance,  thirty- 
five  miles,  to  have  a  heavy  storm  come  the  next 
day,  and  a  heavy  gale,  when  I  again  went  on  the 
water,  but  then  a  steamer  was  ready  to  carry  me. 
The  last  week,  on  coming  from  Jamestown  home, 
in  a  canoe,  I  had  pleasant  weather  and  a  fair  north 
v/ind  to  blow  me  home  tke  whole  time,  only  to 
have  it  begin  to  rain  an  hour  after  I  reached  home, 
the  commencement  of  a  storm  which  lasted  a 
week.  Strange  that  a  week's  north  wind  should 
bring  a  week's  rain.  I  hcfvc  never  noticed  the 
fact  at  any  other  time.  • 

But  the  most  noticeable  providence  of  all  was 


THE   CENSUS   OF  jSSo. 


139 


as  follows  :  On  my  way  down,  the  good,  kind  peo- 
ple of  Seabeck,  where  I  occasionally  preached, 
made  me  a  present  of  forty  dollars,  and  it  was 
very  acceptable,  for  my  finances  were  low.  At 
Port  Gamble  I  spent  it  all  and  more,  too,  for  our 
winter  supplies,  as  I  did  not  wish  to  carry  the 
money  all  around  with  me,  and,  also,  so  that  I 
might  ge":  at  Port  Townscnd  those  things  which 
I  could  not  find  at  Port  Gamble.  I  often  did  so, 
and  ordered  them  to  be  kept  there  until  my  return. 
About  three  days  later  I  heard  that  the  store  at 
Port  Gamble  was  burned  with  about  every  thing  in 
it,  the  loss  being  estimated  at  seventy-five  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  thought  came  into  my  mind, 
Wh)'  was  that  money  given  to  me  to  be  lost  so 
quickly  .■*  On  my  return  I  went  to  Port  Gamble  to 
see  about  the  things  and  to  my  great  surprise  I 
found  that  only  about  two  wheelbarrow  loads  of 
goods  had  been  saved,  and  that  mine  were  among 
them.  They  had  been  packed  and  placed  al  the 
back  door.  The  fire  began  in  the  front  part,  so 
they  broke  open  the  back  door,  and  took  the  first 
things  of  which  they  could  lay  hold,  and  they 
were  mine,  and  but  little  else  was  saved. 

When  I  arrived  at  Seabeck  the  kind  ladies  of 
the  })lace  presented  my  wife  with  a  bo.\  containing 


m\ 


140 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


I 


over  thirty  dollars'  worth  of  things  as  a  Christmas 
present.  Among  these  was  a  cloak.  During  my 
absence  she  had  been  trying  to  make  herself  one, 
supposing  that  she  had  doth  er.ough,  but  when 
she  began  to  cut  it  out  to  her  dismay  she  found 
that  with  all  the  twisting,  turning,  and  piecing 
that  she  could  do,  there  was  not  cloth  enough,  so 
she  had  given  it  up  and  made  a  cloak  for  our  little 
boy  out  of  it.  She  natunilly  felt  badly,  as  she  did 
not  know  how  she  should  then  get  one.  **  All 
these  things  are  against  nie,"  said  Jacob,  but  he 
found  that  they  were  all  for  him.  Others  besides 
Jacob  have  found  the  same  to  be  true. 

The  statistical  information  obtained  in  this  cen- 
sus is  as  follows  :  — 

In  the  Clallam  tribe  there  were  then  158  men, 
172  women,  86  boys,  and  69  girls  ;  a  total  of  485 
persons.  Six  were  on  or  near  the  reservation,  10 
near  Seabeck,  96  at  Port  Gamble,  6  at  Port  Lud- , 
low,  22  at  Port  Discovery,  12  at  Port  Townsend, 
18  at  Sequini,  86  at  Jamestown,  36  at  or  near 
Dunginess.  (Those  at  Sequim  and  near  Dunginess 
were  all  within  si.x  miles  of  Jamestown.)  P"ifty- 
sevcn  at  Port  Angeles  (])ut  a  large  share  of  them 
were  across  the  straits  on  the  British  side),  6y  at 
P21kwa,  24  at    Pyscht,  and  49  at  or  near  Clallam 


THE   CENSUS  OF  iSSo. 


141 


Bay.  There  were  290  full-blooded  Clallams  among 
them,  and  the  rest  were  intermingled  with  18 
other  tribes.  Fifteen  were  part  white.  During 
the  year  previous  to  October  i,  1880,  there  had 
been  1 1  births  and  9  deaths.  Forty-one  had 
been  in  school  during  the  previous  year,  49  could 
read  and  42  write  ;  135  could  talk  English  so  as 
to  be  understood,  of  whom  69  were  adults  ;  65 
had  no  Indian  name;  33  out  of  123  couples  had 
been  legally  married. 

They  owned  10  horses,  31  cattle,  5  sheep,  97 
swine,  584  domestic  fowls,  and  137  guns  anc'  pis- 
tols, most  of  them  being  shot-guns.  Thirty  four 
were  laborers  in  sawmills ;  22  were  farmers. 
There  were  80  fishermen,  23  laborers,  17  sealers, 
15  canoe-m.en,  6  canoe-makers,  6  hunters,  3  police- 
men, 1 1  medicine-men,  4  medicine-women,  i  car- 
penter, 2  wood-choppers,  i  blacksmith,  and  40  of 
the  v/omen  were  mat  and  basket  makers.  Twenty- 
eight  persons  owned  576  acres  of  land  with  a 
patented  title,  four  more  owned  475  acres  by 
homestead,  and  twenty-two  persons,  representing 
104  persons  in  their  families,  cultivated  46  acres. 

During  the  year  they  raised  2,036  bushels  of 
potatoes,  14  tons  of  hay,  26  bushels  of  oats,  258 
bushels    of    turnips,    148    bushels   of    wheat,   20 


11 


142 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISIT. 


bushels  of  apples,  5  of  plums,  and  4  of  small  fruit. 
They  had  113  frame-houses,  valued  by  estimate  at 
1^5*650,  four  log-houses,  worth  j^ioo,  twenty-nine 
out-houses,  as  barns,  chicken-houses,  and  canoe- 
houses,  two  jails,  and  two  churches.  They  cut 
250  cords  of  wood;  received  $1,994  for  sealing, 
$646  for  salmon,  and  $i,0(X)  for  work  in  the  Port 
Discovery  mill.  I  was  not  able  to  learn  what  they 
had  earned  at  the  Seabeck  and  Port  Gamble  saw- 
mills. Two  hundred  and  eleven  of  them  were  out 
of  the  smoke  when  at  home.  I  estimated  that  on 
an  average  they  obtained  seventy-two  per  cent,  of 
their  living  from  civilized  food,  the  extremes  being 
fifty  and  one  hundred  per  cent. 

Twana  Indians.  —  This  census  was  taken  by 
government  employees  mainly,  and  some  of  the 
estimates  differed  considerably  from  what  I  should 
have  made.  Probably  hardly  two  persons  could 
be  found  who  would  estimate  alike  on  some  points. 
They  numbered  245  persons,  of  whom  there  were 
70  men,  84  women,  41  boys,  and  47  girls.  The 
residence  of  49  was  in  the  region  of  Seabeck, 
and  of  the  rest  on  the  Skokomish  Reservation. 
There  were  only  20  full-blooded  Twanas,  the  rest 
being  intermingled  with  15  other  tribes;  24  were 
partly  white.     During  the  year  there  were  8  births 


THE   CENSUS   OF  i8So. 


143 


and  3  deaths.  Twenty-nine  had  been  in  school 
during  the  previous  year;  35  could  read,  and  30 
could  write  ;  68  could  talk  English ;  37  had  no 
Indian  name.  Out  of  6^  couples  23  had  been 
legally  married.  They  owned  80  horses,  SS  cattle, 
44  domestic  fowls,  and  36  guns.  There  were  42 
farmers,  4  carpenters,  2  blacksmiths,  4  laborers, 
7  hunters,  20  fishermen,  21  lumbermen  and  log- 
gers, I  interpreter,  i  policeman,  6  medicine-men, 
7  washer-women,  6  mat  and  basket  makers,  and  i 
assistant  matron.  Forty-seven  of  them,  repre- 
senting all  except  about  40  of  the  tribe,  held 
2,599  acres  of  unpatented  land,  all  but  40  of 
which  was  on  the  reservation.  They  raised  80 
tons  of  hay  and  450  bushels  of  potatoes  during 
the  year.  They  owned  60  frame-houses  valued  at 
$3,000.  All  but  25  were  off  of  the  ground  and 
out  of  the  smoke.  It  was  estimated  that  on  an 
average  they  obtained  78  per  cent,  of  their  sub- 
sistence from  civilized  food,  the  extremes  being 
25  and  100  per  cent.,  but  these  estimates  were 
made  by  two  different  persons  who  differed  widely 
in  their  calculations. 


>  i 


^■■(•■■•■■■■^i^ 


XX. 


THE   INFLUENCE  OF  THE   WHITES. 


OOME  of  this  has  been  good  and  some  very 
*^  bad.  Wherever  there  is  whiskey  a  bad  in- 
fluence goes  forth,  and  there  is  whiskey  not  far 
from  nearly  all  the  Indian  settlements.  Still  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  the  influence  of  all 
classes  of  whites  has  been  in  favor  of  industry, 
Christian  services  at  funerals,  and  the  like,  and 
against  tamahnous  and  potlatches.  Around  Sko- 
komish  —  with  a  few  exceptions  of  those  whose 
influence  has  been  very  good  —  there  arc  not 
many  who  keep  the  Sabbath  and  do  not  swear, 
drink  whiskey,  and  gamble ;  but  this  influence  has 
been  partially  counteracted  by  the  employees  on 
the  reservation.  It  has  not  been  possible  to 
secure  Christian  men  who  could  fill  the  places, 
but  moral  men  have  at  least  generally  been  ob- 
tained. It  has  been  one  of  the  happy  items  of 
this  missionary  work,  that  a  good  share  of  those 
who  have  come  to  the  reservation  as  government 
employees,  who  have   not   at   the   time   of  their 

144 


>" 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  THE   WHITES. 


M5 


coming  been  Christians,  have  joined  the  church 
on  profession  of  their  faith  before  they  have  left. 
The  Christian  atmosphere  at  the  agency  has  been 
very  different  from  that  of  a  large  share  of  the 
outside  world.  The  church  is  within  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  of  the  houses  of  all  the  employees,  and 
thus  it  is  very  convenient  to  attend  church,  prayer- 
meetings,  and  Sabbath-school.  '^'  as  those  per- 
sons who  were  not  Christians  when  they  came, 
found  themselves  in  a  different  place  from  what 
they  had  ever  been.  There  are  many  persons 
who  often  think  of  the  subject  of  religion ;  wish 
at  heart  that  they  were  Christians,  and  intend  at 
some  time  to  become  such,  but  the  cares  of  this 
world,  and  the  deceitfulness  of  riches,  and  the 
people  with  whom  they  associate,  choke  the  good 
thoughts.  But  let  such  people  be  placed  in  a 
Christian  community,  where  these  influences  are 
small,  and  breathe  a  Christian  atmosphere,  and 
the  good  seed  comes  up.  So  it  has  been  among 
the  happy  incidents  of  these  ten  years  to  receive 
into  the  church  some  of  these  individuals. 

Two  brothers,  neither  of  whom  were  Christians, 
but  whose  mother  was  one,  were  talking  together 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  at  Seattle,  when  one  of 
them  said  that  he  believed  it  to  be  the  best  way. 


U  I 


146 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOK'OMISII. 


V0 


Not  long  after  that  the  other  brother  came  to  the 
reservation,  where  he  became  a  Christian.  He 
then  wrote  to  his  brother,  saying,  "  I  have  now 
found  by  experience  that  it  is  the  best  way." 

Another  man  and  his  wife  had  for  years  been 
skeptical,  but  were  like  "  the  troubled  sea  which 
can  not  rest,"  and  were  sincere  inquirers  after 
truth.  In  the  course  of  time,  after  thorough  in- 
vestigation, they  became  satisfied  of  the  truth  of 
the  Bible,  as  most  people  do  who  sincerely  seek 
for  light,  and  became  Christians.  A  year  after- 
ward the  gentleman  said :  "  This  has  been  by  far 
the  happiest  year  of  my  life  ; "  and  many  times  in 
prayer-meetings  and  conversation  did  they  speak 
in  pity  of  their  old  companions  who  were  still  in 
darkness  and  had  not  the  means  of  obtaining  the 
light  which  they  had  found. 

Several  of  the  children  of  the  employees  also 
came  into  the" church;  one  of  them,  eleven  years 
old,  being  the  youngest  person  whom  I  ever  re- 
ceived into  church  membership.  Such  events  as 
these  had  a  silent  but  strong  influence  upon  the 
Indians,  as  strong  I  think  as  if  these  persons  had 
been  Christians  before  they  came  to  the  reserva- 
tion. Thirteen  white  persons  in  all  united  with 
the  Skokomish  church,  on  profession  of  faith,  and 
twenty-three  by  letter. 


m 


W 


w^ 


THE  INFLUENCE   OF  THE   WHITES. 


M7 


At  Jamestown  it  was  different.  There  was 
only  a  school-teacher  as  a  government  employee, 
and  he  was  not  sent  there  until  1878.  There  are 
only  a  few  church  privileges  or  Christians  in  the 
county,  but  fortunately  a  good  share  of  the  Chris- 
tians have  lived  near  to  the  Indian  village,  the 
Indians  have  worked  largely  for  them,  and  I  have 
sometimes  thought  that  their  influence  has  had 
as  much  to  do  in  elevating  the  Jamestown  people 
as  that  of  the  missionary  and  agent. 

"  Hungry  for  preaching "  was  the  way  I  felt 
about  one  old  lady  in  1880,  who  was  seventy-six 
years  old.  With  her  son  she  walked  two  and  a 
half  miles  to  Jamestown  to  church  to  the  Indian 
service  in  the  morning,  then  a  mile  further  to  a 
school-house  where  I  preached  to  the  whites  in 
the  afternoon,  and  then  home  again  —  seven  miles 
in  all ;  and  she  has  done  it  several  times  since, 
although  now  nearly  eighty.  She  often  walks  to 
the  Indian  services  when  there  is  no  white  person 
to  take  charge  of  it. 

On  one  communion  Sabbath  a  lady  too  weak 
from  ill-health  to  walk  the  three  quarters  of  a  mile 
between  her  house  and  the  Indian  church  was 
taken  by  her  husband  on  a  wheelbarrow  a  good 
share  of   the   way.     In    1883   an  old    gentleman 


inil  I 


148 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


seventy-three  years  of  age  stood  up  with  four 
Indians  to  unite  with  the  church  —  the  oldest 
person  I  ever  saw  join  a  church  on  profession 
of  faith.  As  we  went  home  he  said :  "  This  is 
what  I  ought  to  have  done  forty  years  ago." 
Such  influences  as  these  have  done  much  to 
encourage  these  Indians. 


XXI. 


THE  CHURCH  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


"  I  ''HE  church  was  organized  June  23,  1874,  the 
■*•  clay  after  I  arrived,  with  eleven  members, 
only  one  of  whom  was  an  Indian,  John  F.  Palmer, 
who  was  government  interpreter,  I  did  not  come 
with  the  expectation  of  remaining,  but  only  for  a 
visit.  I  had  just  come  from  Boise  City,  Idaho, 
and  more  than  half-expected  to  go  to  Mexico, 
but  that  and  some  other  plans  failed,  when  the 
agent  said  that  he  thought  I  might  do  as  much 
good  here  as  anywhere,  and  the  sentiment  was 
confirmed  by  others.  Rev.  C.  Eells  had  been 
here  nearly  two  years,  had  been  with  the  church 
through  all  its  preliminary  plans,  and  it  was 
proper  that  he  should  be  its  pastor,  and  he  was 
so  chosen  at  the  first  chuich  meeting  after  the 
organization.  He  almost  immediately  left  for  a 
two  months'  tour  in  Eastern  Washington,  and 
wished  me  to  fill  his  place  while  I  was  visiting. 
The  next  summer  he  spent  in  the  same  way, 
only  wintering  with  us.  His  heart  was  mainly 
set  on  work  in  that  region,  where  he  had  spent 


!  n 


ISO 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISIL 


a  good  share  of  his  previous  life.  He  felt  too  old, 
at  the  age  of  sixty -four,  to  learn  a  new  Indian 
language,  and  so  from  the  first  the  work  fell  into 
my  hands,  but  he  remained  as  pastor.  When  it 
was  decided  that  I  should  remain,  the  American 
Missionary  Association  gave  me  a  commission  as 
its  missionary,  and  I  served  as  assistant  pastor  for 
nearly  two  years.  In  the  spring  of  1876  the  pas- 
tor left  for  several  months'  work  in  the  region  of 
Fort  Colville,  hardly  expecting  to  make  this  his 
residence  any  longer ;  hence  he  resigned,  and  in 
April,  1 876,  I  was  chosen  as  his  successor. 

During  most  of  this  time  the  congregations 
continued  good,  though  once  in  a  while  the  In- 
dians would  get  very  angry  at  some  actions  about 
the  agency,  and  almost  all  would  stay  away  from 
church,  but  the  average  attendance  until  the 
spring  of  1876  was  ninety.  At  that  time  the 
disaffection  resulting  from  the  trouble  with  Billy 
Clams,  as  spoken  of  under  the  subject  of  Mar- 
riage and  Divorce,  caused  a  considerable  falling 
off,  so  that  the  average  attendance  for  the  next 
two  years  was  only  seventy.  Although  the  people 
got  over  that  disaffection  in  a  measure,  yet  one 
thing  or  another  came  up,  so  that  while  in  1879 
and  1880  the  average  attendance  was  better,  the 
congregation  never  wholly  returned  until  the  fall 


1 


THE  CHURCH  a  t  skokomish. 


151 


of  1883.  A  Catholic  service  sprang  up  in  1881, 
which  took  away  a  number,  and  which  will  here- 
after be  more  fully  described  among  the  Dark 
Days. 

From  the  first  there  were  a  few  additions  to  the 
church,  but  more  of  them  during  the  first  few 
years  were  from  among  the  whites,  several  of 
them  being  children  of  the  employees,  than  from 
among  the  Indians.  When  the  Indians  began  to 
ioin,  all  the  accessions,  with  one  exception,  were 
from  among  the  school-children,  and  others  con- 
nected with  the  work  at  the  agency  until  1883. 
Gambling,  horse-racing,  betting,  and  tamahnous 
had  too  strong  a  hold  on  them  for  them  to  easily 
give  up  these  practices. 

The  following  is  from  The  American  Missionary 
for  April,  1877  :  — 

"  Our  hearts  were  .gladdened  last  Sabbath  by 
receiving  into  our  church  three  of  the  Indian 
school-boys,  each  of  them  supposed  to  be  about 
thirteen  years  old.  We  had  kept  them  on  virtual 
probation  for  nearly  a  year,  until  I  began  to  feel 
that  to  do  so  any  longer  would  be  an  injury 
both  to  themselves  and  others.  Their  conduct, 
especially  toward  their  school-teacher,  although 
not  perfect,  has  been  so  uniformly  Christian  that 
those  who  were  best  acquainted   with  them  felt 


152 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


the  best  satisfied  in  regard  to  their  change  of 
heart.  Said  a  member  of  our  church  of  about 
fifty  years'  Christian  experience :  '  I  wish  that 
some  of  the  white  children  whom  we  have  re- 
ceived into  the  church  had  given  half  as  good 
evidence  of  being  Christians  as  these  boys  give.' 
On  religious  subjects  they  have  been  most  free 
in  communicating  both  to  their  teacher  and  my- 
self by  letter.  I  have  thought  that  you  might  be 
interested  in  extracts  from  some  of  them,  and 
hence  send  you  the  following. 

"  I  am  going  to  write  to  you  this  day.  Please 
help  me  to  get  my  father  to  become  a  Christian  " 
(his  father  is  an  Indian  doctor)  "  and  I  think  I  will 
get  Andrew  and  Henry "  (the  other  Christian 
boys)  "  to  say  a  word  for  my  father.  I  want  you 
to  read  it  to  my  father." 

He  wrote  to  his  father  the  following,  which  I 
read  to  him  :  — 

"August  3,  1877. 

"  My  Dear  Beloved  Father,  —  Your  son  is 
a  Christian.  I  am  going  off  another  road.  I  am 
going  a  road  where  it  leadeth  to  heaven,  and  you 
are  going  to  a  big  road  where  it  leadeth  to  hell. 
But  now  please  return  back  from  hell.  I  was 
long   time  thinking  what   I   shall  do,   then    my 


■    11 


THE   CHURCH  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


153 


father  would  be  saved  from  hell.  I  prayed  to 
God.  I  asked  God  to  help  my  father  to  become 
a  Christian." 

The  letter  of  another  to  his  Indian  friends  :  — 

"  You  have  not  read  the  Bible,  for  you  can  not 
read,  but  you  have  heard  the  minister  read  it  to 
you.  You  seem  not  to  pay  good  attention,  but 
you  know  how  Jesus  was  crucified ;  how  he  was 
put  on  the  cross ;  how  he  was  mocked  and 
whipped,  and  they  put  a  crown  of  thorns,  and 
he  was  put  to  death." 

The  letter  of  the  "other  to  me  :  — 

"  Oh,  how  I  love  all  the  Indians !  I  wish  they 
should  all  become  Christians.  If  you  please,  tell 
them  about  Jesus*  coming.  It  makes  me  feel  bad 
because  the  Indians  are  not  ready." 

To  his  Indian  friends  :  — 

"  The  first  time  I  became  a  Christian,  I  found 
it  a  very  hard  thing  to  do,  but  I  kept  asking 
Jesus  to  help  me,  and  so  he  did,  for  I  grew 
stronger  and  stronger.  So,  my  friends,  if  you  will 
just  accept  Jesus  as  your  King,  he  will  help  you  to 
the  end  of  your  journey.  You  must  trust  wholly 
in  Jesus'  strength,  and  yield  your  will,  your  time, 
your  talents,  your  reputation,  your  strength,  your 


154 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


property,  your  all,  to  be  henceforth  and  forever 
subject  to  his  divine  control  —  your  hearts  to  love 
him  ;  your  tongues  to  speak  for  him  ;  your  hands 
and  feet  to  work  for  him,  and  your  lives  to  serve 
him  when  and  where  and  as  his  Spirit  may  direct. 
Don't  be  proud,  but  be  very  good  Christians ;  be 
brave  and  do  what  is  right, 

"  Your  young  friend, 


! 


It  is  but  just  to  say  now  that  the  first  two  of 
these  have  been  suspended  from  the  church  for 
misconduct,  and  still  stand  so  (5n  our  record.  The 
other  one  has  done  a  good  work,  and  has  been  one 
of  the  leaders  of  religion  with  the  older  people, 
sometimes  holding  one  and  two  meetings  a  week 
with  them  and  teaching  the  Bible  class  of  fifty  on 
the  Sabbath. 

The  Twanas  and  the  Clallams  were  formerly  at 
war  with  each  other,  and  even  now  the  old  hostile 
feeling,  dwindled  down  to  jealousy,  will  show 
itself  at  times.  A  like  unpleasant  feeling  has 
often  been  shown  between  the  whites  and  Indians, 
yet,  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  April,  1880,  three  per- 
sons united  with  the  church  and  received  baptism, 
who  belonged  one  to  each  of  these  three  classes. 
Another  noticeable  fact   was  the  reason  which 


THE   CHURCH  AT  Sh'OKOMISH. 


155 


induced  them  to  become  Christians.  In  reply  to 
my  question  on  this  point,  each  one,  unknown  to 
the  other,  said  that  it  was  because  they  had 
noticed  that  Christians  were  so  much  happier  than 
other  people.  Two  of  them  had  tried  the  wrong 
road  with  all  their  heart,  and  had  found  to  their 
sorrow  that  "  the  way  of  transgressors  is  hard." 

The  following  table  will  show  the  state  of  the 
church  during  the  ten  years  :  — 


A 

b" 

t.^ 

ri 

ul 

0 

U. 

•a 

^ 

0 

u 

a 

0.2 

. 

'1 

4) 

1^ 

?fg 

^ 

<u 

c 

^ 

£ 

■H 

S 

.H 

• 

>, 

a 

^H 

V 

3 

-;^>" 

S 

S 

0 

i>  - 

F 

t-  ^< 

Si 

TJ 

•a 

.« 

B 

^s 

c 

t 

•a 

•a 

T3 

•a 

zi 

fc: 

•a 
u 

0 
u 

(3 

Si 

J3 

< 

< 

0 

U 

Q 

>: 

< 

Organized  with 

9 

a 

I 

II 

une,  1874-75 

a 

13 

une,  1875-76 

4 

4 

I 

21 

unc,  1876-77 

3 

a 

2 

9 

Id 

2 

une,  1877-78 

3 

3 

19 

2 

line,  1878-79 

6 

i 

a 

I 

23 

4 

lino,  1879-80 

4 

II 

7 

I 

36 

5 

line,  1880-81 

3 

S 

sJ 

3 

40 

10 

■  une,  1881-82 

a 

5 

Is 

16 

31 

13 

June,  1882-83 

I 

5 

s 

b 

31 

13 

■  une.  i8Q3-July,  1884     .    .    . 

I 

18 

'17 

5 

I 

I 

43 

10 

Total 

27 

61 

64 

37 

6 

a 

*  Aililed  to  ilu>  Jnmpstown  Church,  and  inserted  here  to  give  a  view 
of  the  whole  work. 


156 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


The  large  diminution  in  1876-77  was  caused 
by  the  removal  of  employees.  The  same  cause 
operated  in  1881-82,  for  then  the  Indians  were 
believed  to  be  so  far  advanced  in  civilization  that 
the  government  thought  it  wise  to  discharge  all 
of  the  employees  except  the  physician  and  those 
at  work  in  the  school.  During  that  year  the 
church  also  granted  letters  to  seven  of  its 
members  who  lived  at  Jamestown,  to  assist  in 
organizing  a  church  there.  Thus  when  the 
reasons  for  the  reduced  membership  of  that  year 
were  considered  there  was  no  particular  cause 
for  discouragement,  but  rather  for  encouragement. 
One  white  man  and  one  Indian  have  been  ex- 
communicated. 

The  next  year  the  agent  moved  away,  and 
while  he  still  retained  his  membership  in  the 
church,  and  aided  it  financially  almost  as  much 
as  when  he  resided  here,  still  his  absence  has 
been  felt,  as  from  the  beginning  he  had  been  its 
clerk  and  treasurer,  for  a  part  of  the  time  its 
deacon,  and  his  councils  had  always  been  of  great 
value. 

The  absentees  grew  in  number  mainly  because 
white  employees  moved  away,  and  did  not  always 
unite  with  another  church. 


s 


I 

1 


Tjff£   CnUKCII  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


157 


On  July  4,  1880,  the  first  Indian  infant  was 
baptized.  Some  casto  of  discipline  have  been 
necessary,  four  being  now  suspended.  Most  cases 
of  discipline  have  resulted  favorably. 


■ife 


XXII. 

BIG  BILL. 

A  MONG  those  who  about  thirty  years  previous 
•^^-  had  received  Catholic  instruction  and  bap- 
tism was  Big  Bill.  He  was  one  of  the  better  In- 
dians. When  in  1875  I  went  to  their  logging- 
camps  to  hold  meetings,  as  related  under  the  head 
of  Prayer-meetings,  he  seemed  to  be  a  leading  one 
in  favor  of  Christianity.  When  I  offered  to  teach 
them  how  to  pray,  sentence  by  sentence,  the  other 
Indians  selected  him,  as  one  of  the  most  suitable,  in 
their  opinion,  thus  to  pray.  I  never  knew  him  to 
do  any  thing  which  was  especially  objectionable, 
even  in  a  Christian,  except  that  he  clung  to  his 
tamahnous,  and  at  times  he  seemed  to  be  even  try- 
ing to  throw  that  off.  Quite  often  he  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  an  Indian  doctor  when  he  was 
sick,  although  he  was  related  to  some  of  them  — 
then  again  he  would  call  on  them  for  their  assist- 
ance. In  time  consumption  took  hold  of  him,  to- 
gether with  some  other  disease,  and  he  wasted 
away.     He  wanted  to  join  the  church  and  be  bap- 

158 


BIG  BILL. 


»59 


tized.  One  reason  given  was  that  he  had  heard 
of  another  Indian  far  away  who  had  been  sick 
somewhat  as  he  was,  who  was  baptized  and 
recovered.  Of  course  this  reason  was  good  for 
nothing,  and  he  was  told  so,  yet  because  of  his 
previous  life  and  his  Christian  profession  this 
point  was  overlooked  as  one  of  the  things  for 
which  we  should  have  to  make  allowance,  and  he 
was  received  into  the  church  May  9,  1880.  I 
had  made  up  my  mind  not  to  ask  him  to  unite 
with  the  church,  notwithstanding  his  apparent 
fitness  in  some  respects,  because  of  doubts  which 
I  had  on  other  points,  but  when  he  made  the 
request  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  a  new  aspect  were 
put  on  the  affair,  and  I  was  hardly  ready  to  refuse. 
He  came  to  church  as  long  as  he  was  able, 
though  he  lived  two  miles  away,  and  always 
seemed  glad  to  see  me.  But  his  sickness  was 
long  and  wore  on  his  mind.  His  nervous  system 
was  affected.  Before  he  died  he  saw  some  strange 
visions  when  he  was  not  asleep.  His  visions 
combined  some  Protestant  teaching,  some  of  the 
Catholic,  and  some  of  their  old  native  supersti- 
tions, and  had  reference  especially  to  heaven. 
He  sent  for  me  to  tell  me  about  them,  but  I  was 
not   at   home.     When   I   returned   th  ee  or  four 


i » 


1 60 


7'£.V   YEAKS  AT  SKOKOMISII, 


days  afterward  I  went  to  see  him.  I  found  that 
Billy  Clams,  the  leader  of  the  Catholic  set,  was 
there,  and  I  suspected  that  his  weak  mind  was 
turning  to  that  religion  of  which  he  had  been 
taught  in  his  younger  days.  It  was  so.  I  often 
went  to  see  him,  and  he  always  received  me  well, 
yet  he  kept  up  his  intimacy  with  Billy  Clams. 
He  told  me  much  of  his  visions,  and  seemed  hurt 
that  I  did  not  believe  them  to  be  as  valid  as  the 
Bible.  Amongst  other  things  in  his  visions  he 
saw  an  old  friend  of  his  who  had  died  many  years 
previous,  and  this  friena  taught  him  four  songs. 
They  were  mainly  about  heaven,  and  there  was 
not  much  objection  to  them,  except  that  they  said 
that  Sandyalla,  the  name  of  this  friend,  told  him 
some  things.  This  was  a  species  of  spiritualism 
perpetuated  in  song.  He  taught  these  songs  to 
his  friends.  When  he  could  no  longer  come  to 
church  he  instituted  church  services  at  his  house, 
twice  on  each  Sabbath  and  on  Thursday  evening, 
to  correspond  with  ours.  Hence  I  could  not 
attend  them,  and  his  brothers,  who  leaned  toward 
the  Catholic  religion,  and  Billy  Clams  had  every 
thing  their  own  way.  When  I  went  to  see  him  he 
was  glad  to  have  me  sing  and  hold  services  in  my 
way.     The  whole  affair  became  mi.xed.     He  died 


BIG  B/IJ. 


i6i 


June,  1 88 1,  and  his  relations  asked  me  to  attend 
the  funeral.  I  did  so.  They  also  prepared  a  long 
service  of  his  own  and  Catholic  song  and  prayers, 
of  lighted  candles  and  ceremonies  which  they 
went  through  with  after  I  was  done.  (It  was  the 
first  and  last  funeral  in  which  they  and  I  had  a 
partnership.) 

He  had  two  brothers  and  a  brother-in-law,  the 
head  chief,  who  inclined  to  the  Catholic  religion. 
They  had  always  given  as  an  excuse  for  not 
coming  to  church  that  as  Big  Bill  could  not  come 
they  went  to  his  house  for  his  benefit  and  held 
services.  But  after  his  death  their  services  did 
not  cease.  They  kept  them  up  as  an  opposition, 
partly  professing  that  they  were  Catholics,  and 
partly  saying  that  their  brother's  last  words  and 
songs  were  very  precious  to  them,  and  they  must 
get  together,  talk  about  what  he  had  said  and 
sing  his  songs.  In  course  of  time  this  proved  a 
source  of  great  trouble — one  of  the  most  severe 
trials  which  we  had.  More  will  be  told  of  this 
under  the  head  of  Dark  Days. 

About  the  only  good  thing,  as  far  as  I  knew,  in 
connection  with  these  visions,  was  that  they  in- 
duced him  to  give  up  his  tamahnous,  or  Indian 
doctors,  and  he  advised  his   relations  to   do   the 


1 62 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


same.     He  said  that  in  his  visions  he  had  learned 
that  God  did  not  wish  such  things. 

After  his  death  his  brother  told  me  that  Big 
Bill  had  foretold  events  which  actually  took  place, 
as  the  sickness  and  death  of  several  persons,  and 
so  they  believed  his  visions  to  have  come  from 
God.  It  may  have  been  so.  I  could  not  prove 
the  contrary,  but  it  was  very  hard  for  me  to  be- 
lieve it.  Big  Bill  never  told  me  those  prophecies, 
nor  did  his  brother  tell  me  of  them  until  after 
each  event  occurred.  Singly  after  each  death  or 
sickness  took  place  I  was  informed  that  he  had 
foretold  it. 


1 
t 


XXIII. 


DARK    DAYS. 


\ 


PKBRUARY,  1883,  covered  about  the  darkest 
-*■  period  I  have  seen  during  the  ten  years. 
It  was  due  to  several  causes. 

(i)  T/w  Half-CatJiolic  Movement.  —  Ever  since  I 
have  been  here  some  of  the  Indians  leaned  toward 
the  Catholic  Church,  when  they  leaned  toward 
any  white  man's  church,  because  of  their  instruc- 
tion thirty  years  ago.  In  1875  some  of  them 
spoke  to  me  quite  earnestly  about  inviting  Father 
Chirouse,  a  prominent  Catholic  missionary,  to 
come  here  and  help  me,  a  partnership  about  which 
I  cared  nothing.  The  matter  slumbered,  only 
slightly  showing  itself,  until  the  time  of  the  sick- 
ness and  death  of  Big  Bill.  For  two  or  three  years 
previous  to  this  Billy  Clams  professed  to  have  re- 
formed and  become  a  Christian,  but  it  was  Cath- 
olic Christianity  he  had  embraced,  and  he  often 
held  some  kind  of  service  at  his  house,  occasion- 
ally coming  to  our  church  ;  but  very  few,  if  any, 
were  attracted  to  it.     After  Big  Bill's  death  the 

163 


164 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISll. 


affair  took  definite  shape,  there  being  a  combina- 
tion of  Big  Bill's  songs  and  prayers  and  those  of 
Billy  Clams.  The  head  chief  was  brother- in-law 
to  Big  Bill,  and  threw  his  influence  in  favor  of 
the  opposition  church,  and  a  considerable  numbei 
were  attracted  to  it.  Religious  affairs  thus  be- 
came divided  and  a  number  lost  interest  in  the 
subject  and  went  nowhere  to  church. 

(2)  yohn  Slocnm.  —  Affairs  went  on  this  way 
from  June,  1881,  until  November,  1882;  their 
efforts  apparently  losing  interest  for  want  of  life. 
At  that  time  John  Slocum,  an  Indian  who  had 
many  years  before  lived  on  the  rcservatio.i,  but 
who  had  for  six  or  seven  years  lived  twelve  or 
fourteen  miles  away,  apparently  died,  or  else  pre- 
tended to  die,  I  can  not  determine  which,  though 
there  is  considerable  evidence  to  me  and  other 
whites  that  the  latter  was  true.  The  Indians  be- 
lieved that  4ie  really  died.  He  remained  in  that 
state  about  six  hours,  when  he  returned  to  life,  and 
said  that  he  had  been  to  heaven  and  seen  wonderful 
visions  of  God  and  the  future  world.  He  said 
that  he  could  not  get  into  heaven,  because  that 
God  had  work  for  him  to  do  here,  and  had  sent 
him  back  to  preach  to  the  Indians.  According  to 
his  order  a  church  was  built  for  him,  and  he  held 


• 


■<i 


DARK  DAYS. 


165 


services  which  attracted  Indians  from  all  around. 
At  first  his  teaching  agreed  partly  with  what  he 
had  learned  from  me,  partly  with  the  Catholic 
religion,  and  partly  with  neither,  but  he  was  soon 
captured  by  the  Catholics,  baptized,  and  made  a 
priest.  There  was  much  intercourse  between  him 
and  Billy  Clams  and  friends.  Their  waning  church 
was  greatly  revived  and  ours  decreased. 

(3)  Mowitch  Man.  —  Mainly  through  the  influ- 
ence of  John  Slocum,  another  Indian  on  the  reser- 
vation, Mowitch  Man,  who  had  two  wives,  but 
had  some  influence,  was  roused  to  adopt  some 
religion.  His  consisted  partly  in  following  John 
Slocum,  but  largely  in  his  own  dreams.  For  a 
time  he  affiliated  somewhat  with  Billy  Clams  and 
his  set,  but  not  always,  being  rather  too  dreamy 
for  them,  and  at  last  there  came  a  complete 
separation  and  we  had  a  third  church. 

(4)  White  Members.  —  Owing  to  orders  from  the 
government,  the  agent  and  all  of  the  white  em- 
ployees, except  the  school-teacher,  the  physician, 
and  an  industrial  teacher,  were  removed.  The 
school-teacher  and  wife  were  excellent  people,  and 
willing  to  do  all  that  they  could,  but  he  had  taken 
charge  about  the  first  of  February  and  every  thing 
was  new  to  him.     The  government  had  promised 


i66 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


an  industrial  teacher  to  aid  him,  but  the  one  pro- 
cured had  been  drowned  while  coming  on  the 
steamer  6Vw,  that  had  been  burned,  and  an  old 
gentleman  had  to  be  taken  in  his  place  for  a  time, 
who  was  good  and  willing,  but  unable  to  do  what 
was  required.  This  threw  additional  work  on  the 
school-teacher,  which  almost  crushed  him,  and  I 
dared  not  call  on  him  for  much  help,  but  rather 
had  to  assist  him.  He  and  his  wife  were  the  only 
.white  re.«vident  members  the  church  had  except 
the  pastor  and  his  wife. 

(5)  The  Government  Physician.  —  Unfortunately 
the  physician  proved  to  be  the  wrong  man  in  the 
wrong  place,  but  was  retained  for  a  time  because 
it  was  impossible  to  obtain  any  one  else  who 
was  better.  When  the  agent  left  the  previous 
fall,  by  orders  from  Washington,  he  was  in  charge 
of  the  reservation  until  February.  His  moral 
and  religious  influence  in  many  points  was  at  zero. 
The  less  said  about  him  the  better,  but  we  had  to 
contend  against  his  influence. 

(6)  Indian  Church  Members.  —  Previous  to  this 
time  nineteen  Indians  had  been  received  into  the 
church  on  the  reservation.  Of  these  four  had 
died,  two  had  been  suspended,  and  another  ought 
to  have  been,  but  for  good  reasons  was  suffered  to 


DARK  DAYS. 


167 


remain  for  a  time  ;  two  more  were  sisters  of  Billy 
Clams,  and  had  gone  with  his  church,  but  were 
not  suspended  because  the  church  thought  it  best 
to  be  lenient  with  then  for  a  time  on  account  of 
their  ignorance  and  the  strong  influence  brought 
to  bear  on  them  ;  three  had  moved  away,  and  there 
were  seven  left,  three  of  whom  were  school-girls. 

The  previous  summer  there  were  two  young 
men  who  had  assisted  considerably  in  church 
work,  and  I  was  hoping  much  from  them,  but  one 
of  them  in  getting  married  had  done  very  badly, 
had  been  locked  up  in  jail  and  suspended  from  the 
church,  and  thus  far,  although  I  had  kindly  urged 
him,  and  it  had  been  kindly  received  as  a  general 
thing,  yet  he  had  refused  to  make  the  public 
acknowle'igment  which  the  church  required  of 
him.  The  other,  with  so  many  adverse  influences 
to  contend  against  as  there  then  were  on  the 
reservation,  found  it  hard  work  to  stand  as  a 
Christian  without  doing  much  as  a  teacher. 

During  the  previous  spring  there  had  been  con- 
siderable religious  interest,  and  four  men  with 
their  families  had  taken  a  firm  stand  for  the  right, 
but  in  August  one  of  them  for  wrong-doing  had 
been  put  in  jail,  and  in  the  fall  two  others  had 
fallen  into  betting  and  gambling  at  a  great  Indian 


1 68 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISIJ. 


wedding,  and  the  remaining  one,  a  sub-chief,  whom 
I  thought  a  suitable  candidate  for  church  member- 
ship, had  declined  to  unite  with  the  church  when 
I  suggested  the  subject  to  him. 

(7)  An  Indian  Inspector. — About  the  last  of 
January,  1883,  an  inspector  visited  the  reservation. 
I  would  not  speak  evil  of  our  rulers,  and  person- 
ally he  treated  me  with  respect,  and  gave  me  all 
thi^  privileges  for  which  I  could  ask :  but  he  was  a 
rough,  profane  man.  I  have  been  much  in  the 
company  of  rough  loggers  and  miners,  but  never, 
I  think,  met  a  man  who  was  so  rough  and  impolite 
in  the  presence  of  ladies  as  he  was,  nor  have  I 
ever  had  so  many  oaths  repeated  in  my  house, 
nor  have  my  children  heard  so  many  from  dirty, 
despi.sed,  heathen  Indians  for  a  long  time,  if  ever. 
His  intercourse  with  the  Indians  was  more  rough 
and  profane  than  with  me,  and  any  thing  but  a 
help  to  their  morality.  He  so  offended  Chehalis 
Jack,  the  only  chief  who  remained  on  our  side, 
that  he  did  not  come  to  church  for  .1  month.  The 
influence  he  left  with  the  school-children  was  also 
largely  against  religion.  Through  his  influence 
my  interpreter  cither  refused  to  interpret,  or  did 
the  work  in  so  poor  a  manner  that  all  were  dis- 
gusted with  him. 


DARK  DAYS. 


169 


This  seemed  to  cap  the  climax,  and  during  Feb- 
ruary hardly  an  Indian  who  could  not  understand 
English  came  to  church.  There  were  present 
only  the  school-children,  a  very  few  whites,  and 
occasionally  a  very  few  of  the  older  Indians, 
nearly  all  of  whom  had  previously  been  in  school, 
so  that  I  did  not  have  occasion  to  preach  in  Indian 
during  the  whole  of  that  month. 

I  felt  somewhat  discouraged,  and  then  thought 
more  seriously  of  leaving  than  at  any  other  time 
during  the  ten  years.  I  however  determined  to 
wait  until  July,  during  which  time  I  expected  to 
have  opportunities  to  consult  with  several  whose 
advice  I  valued,  and  in  the  meantime  await  further 
developments. 


! 


XXIV. 

LIGHT   BREAKING. 

npHERE  was  one  good  result  from  the  whole 
-*-  excitement ;  it  kept  the  subject  of  religion 
prominently  before  the  people.  It  did  not  die  of 
.stagnation,  as  it  had  almost  seemed  to  do  during 
some  previous  years.  In  my  visits  I  was  well 
treated  and  was  asked  many  questions  on  the  sub- 
ject. I  was  welcomed  at  two  or  three  of  the 
logging-camps  during  the  winter  for  an  evening 
service,  where  I  talked  Bible  to  them  as  plainly  as 
I  could.  They  at  least  asked  me  to  go  to  them, 
although  they  would  not  come  to  our  church.  A 
constant  call,  too,  came  for  large  Bible  pictures. 
In  March  a  barrel  came  from  the  Pearl -street 
Church  in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  full  of  clothes 
and  substantial  good  things,  the  value  of  which  I 
estimated  at  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  dollars. 
This  came  when  tiie  whites  were  mostly  gone, 
salary  failhig,  and  seemed  to  be  a  voice  from 
.above,  saying,  "You  go  on  with  the  work  and 
I  will  take  care  of  the  support." 
During  the  month  of  March  some  of  the  older 


til 


I.ICIir  liNEAKING, 


171 


Indians  came  back  again  to  church,  so  that  I 
could  hold  the  service  in  Indi'  i.  There  had  been 
three  whom  I  had  been  willing  to  receive  into  the 
church  for  some  time,  and  during  the  latter  part 
of  the  month  I  found  two  more.  The  sub-chief 
who  had  declined  joining  in  January  was  one  of 
them  and  a  policeman  was  another  —  both  men  of 
influence.  So,  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  April,  the 
five  were  received  into  th?  church,  and  we  rejoiced 
with  trembling.  These  had  seen  the  whole  oppo- 
sition ;  they  had  mingled  with  its  followers  and 
had  refused  to  join  them,  and  hence  were  not 
likely  to  wander  off  into  tho.se  errors.  This  was 
more  of  the  older  Twana  Indians  who  had  never 
been  in  school  than  had  united  with  the  church 
since  its  organization.  These  gave  up  horse- 
racing,  betting,  gambling,  and  all  of  tamahnous 
except  that  which  had  reference  to  the  sick,  to 
which  they  held  as  a  superstition  but  not  a  reli- 
gion. I  felt  that  on  this  point  they  were  as  chil- 
dren, or  persons  with  their  heads  and  hearts  in 
the  right  direction  but  with  their  eyes  only  half- 
open.  In  July  two  Indian  women  and  a  school- 
girl were  added  to  the  number  and  in  October 
another  school-girl  and  a  woman.  These  drew 
with  them  so  many  that  we  had  u  respectable 
congregation. 


XXV. 


THE   FIRST   BATTLE. 


A  FFAIRS  went  on  about  the  same  until 
"^*-  August.  The  report  then  was  that  Billy 
Clams  had  been  to  John  Slocum's  and  that  they 
had  arranged  to  have  a  great  time.  He  came  back 
and  an  invitation  was  extended  to  the  whole  reser- 
vation to  go  to  John  Slocum's,  where  it  was  said 
that  four  women  vvere  to  be  turned  into  angels ; 
they  would  receive  revelations  directly  fiom 
heaven,  and  many  wonderful  things  would  be 
done.  Two  logging-camps  out  of  four  were 
induced  to  shut  down  completely  for  the  time, 
and  some  people  went  from  one  other.  They 
were  told  that  they  would  be  lost  if  they  did  not 
go  ;  that  the  baptism  of  those  whom  I  had  bap- 
tized was  good  for  nothing,  being  done  with  com- 
mon water,  and  that  they  must  go  and  be  baptized 
again,  and  that  the  world  was  coming  to  an  end  in 
a  few  days.  About  thirty-five  Indians  went  from 
here  and  many  others  from  othc  places,  and  there 
was  great  excitement.     Some  Catholic  ceremonies 

173 


THE  l-IKST  BATTLE. 


10 


were  held,  something  similar  to  the  old  black  tam- 
ahnous  ceremonies  being  added  to  them.  These 
put  the  patient  into  a  state  somewhat  like  that  of 
mesmerism,  baptizing  it  with  the  name  of  reli- 
gion. Visions  were  abundant ;  four  people,  it  was 
said,  died  and  were  raised  to  life  again  ;  women, 
professing  to  be  angels,  tried  to  fly  around. 
People  went  around  brushing  and  striking  others 
until  some  were  made  black  for  a  week,  the  pro- 
fessed intent  being  to  brush  off  their  sins.  A 
shaking  took  hold  of  some  of  them,  on  the  same 
principle,  I  thought,  that  fifty  years  ago  nervous 
jerks  took  hold  of  some  people  at  the  South  and 
West  at  their  exciting  camp-meetings  ;  and  this 
continued  with  them  afterward  until  they  gained 
the  name  of  the  shaking  set.  Some  acted  very 
much  like  crazy  people,  and  some  indecent  things 
were  done.  It  was  reported  that  they  saw  myself, 
Movvitch  Man,  and  others  in  hell ;  that  I  was  kept 
on  the  reservation  to  get  the  lands  of  the  Indians 
away  from  them,  and  that  I  told  lies  in  church. 
Such  reports  came  to  the  reservation  after  a  few 
days  that  the  teacher  here,  who  was  in  charge  of 
the  reservation,  thought  that  he  had  better  go  and 
.•CO  it  and  perhaps  try  to  stop  it.  He  took  two 
}iolicemen  and  the  interpreter  with  him  and  went 


«74 


TEN   YEARS  AT  HhOKOMIS//. 


there.  He  stayed  one  night  and  talked  to  them  so 
plainly  that  they  returned  a  day  or  two  afterward ; 
but  their  nervous  excitement  was  not  over.  Some 
of  them,  as  they  returned,  went  to  their  homes, 
and  a  little  cooling  off,  together  with  the  talk  of 
their  friends,  brought  them  to  their  senses ;  but 
about  half  of  the  number  kept  on.  They  mainly 
consisted  of  those  who  had  been  at  work  in  the 
logging-camp  of  David,  Dick  &  Co.  Dick  was 
head  chief,  and  David  was  a  brother  of  Big  Bill 
and,  next  to  Billy  Clams,  was  the  leader  in  the 
excitement.  Their  camp  was  eight  miles  from 
the  reservation  ;  but  for  about  two  weeks  they 
stayed  on  the  reservation,  singing,  brushing  off 
sins,  shaking,  and  professing  to  worship  God  in 
their  own  way.  The  excitement  and  other  things, 
however,  made  Ellen,  the  wife  of  David,  sick ; 
in  a  few  days  her  infant  child  died,  and  they 
thought  she  was  about  to  die.  Chief  Dick  was 
sick  for  more  than  a  week.  One  of  David's  oxen, 
worth  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  mired, 
and  for  want  of  care  died  ;  and  it  seemed  as  if 
God  were  taking  things  into  his  own  hands.  The 
shaking  set  now  said  that  all  tamahnous  was  bad 
and  that  they  would  have  no  Indian  doctor  for 
their  sick.     Ellen  had  a  sister  who  lived  at   the 


THE  J'IKSr  BATTLE. 


175 


Chchalis,  a  day  and  a  half's  ride  distant,  and  she 
was  sent  for.  When  she  came  she  was  deter- 
mined to  have  an  Indian  doctor,  and  with  consid- 
erable of  a  war  of  words  she  conciuered  I'lUen's 
husband  and  the  whole  set,  and  took  Ellen  off 
to  an  Indian  doctor.  There  were  two  or  three 
in  the  log<^ing-camp  who  were  tired  of  the  affair, 
for  they  had  lost  three  weeks  of  the  best  of 
weather  for  work,  so  they  reorganized  their  shat- 
tered forces  and  moved  to  their  camp.  Ellen's 
husband  and  son,  who  also  belonged  to  the  set, 
now  neglected  her.  They  furnished  her  almost 
nothing,  neither  food,  clothes,  nor  bedding,  and 
when  she  wished  to  have  her  little  boy,  they  would 
not  allow  it.  If  they  could  have  had  control  of 
her  they  would  have  taken  her  to  their  camp, 
taken  care  of  her,  and  held  their  ceremonies  over 
her ;  they  came  twice  to  see  her,  but  the  Indian 
doctors  would  not  be  partners  with  their  shakings, 
and  drove  them  off.  On  the  eighth  of  September 
she  died,  and  her  sister  hud  possession  of  the 
body.  Afl  of  the  members  of  our  church,  Indian 
doctors,  and  all  who  were  opposed  to  the  shaking 
sot,  now  joined  company  with  her  sister.  They 
asked  me  if  the  body  might  be  brought  to  our 
church  and  kept  there  until  the  coffin  should  be 


176 


TKP7   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


!    i 


made,  and  if   I  would  hold  the   funeral   services. 

This  had  often  been  done  in   previous   funerals, 

and  I  could  not  well  have  said  no  if  I  had  wished 

so  to  do.     I  consented,  but  saw  plainly  that  it  was 

more  than  an  ordinary  request.     They  feared  that 

her   husband   would   come  and   claim   the  body. 

Before  her  death  she  had  requested  her  sister  not 

to  give  her  body  to  her  husband  because  he  had 

neglected  her  so.     The  contest  was  to  be  over 

this,  and  they  thought  that  if  the  body  was  in  my 

possession  her  husband  would  probably  not  obtain 

it.     A  strange  contest.     But  the  body  was  brought 

to  the  church  and  left  there.     About  noon   the 

next  day  I  riiet  her  husband  and  several  friends 

about   three   miles  from   the   agency,  apparently 

coming  to  it.     They  asked  about   the   body,  and 

I  told  them   all   about   it.     They  said   that   they 

were  coming  to  the  agency,  and  wanted  to  take 

the  body,  have  their  services  over  it,  and  bury  it. 

I  was  being  drawn  into  the  contest,  but  with  my 

eyes  open.     As  a  general  thing,  a  man  certainly 

had  a  right  to  the  body  of  his  wife.     But  they  left, 

as  I  thought,  a  place  of  escape,  by  saying   that 

they  should  go  and  see  her  sister.     If   she  gave 

them  the  body,  they  would  take  it  and  bury  it  in 

their   way,  but  if   not,  they  wished   me   to   hold 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE. 


177 


funeral  services  over  it  and  bury  it  in  the  best 
manner  possible.  I  was  satisfied  with  that  re- 
mark, for  I  wished,  if  possible,  to  let  them  fight 
it  out.  I  came  home  immediately,  and  told  our 
side  these  things,  most  of  whom  where  gathered 
at  the  agency.  After  this  the  coffin  was  finished  ; 
she  was  placed  in  it,  a  few  words  were  said,  and  I 
was  requested  to  keep  the  body  until  the  next 
day,  when  the  funeral  was  to  take  place.  Three 
hours  had  now  passed  since  I  came  home,  but 
David  and  company  had  not  arrived.  They  had 
turned  aside  and  held  their  services  during  that 
time.  All  of  our  side  started  for  their  homes. 
But  they  had  not  gone  far,  and  I  had  only  been 
at  my  house  a  few  minutes,  when  I  was  called  to 
the  door  to  meet  Ellen's  husband  and  son.  Chief 
Dick,  Billy  Clams,  and  others.  They  asked  me 
where  the  body  was,  and  I  told  them.  They  said 
that  her  son  wished  to  see  his  mother.  I  had  no 
objections.  Her  son  then  said  that  he  should 
take  the  body  to  his  house,  keep  it  for  three  days 
with  lights  burning  at  her  head  and  feet,  and  then 
bury  her  with  their  ceremonies.  He  did  not  ask 
me  for  her,  but  said  he  should  take  her.  Had  her 
husband  said  so,  I  should  have  been  in  an  awkward 
position.     I  asked  if  they  had  seen  her  sister  and 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


^H 


^i 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


•-  ilM    12.2 


uo 


1.4 


20 

1.6 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


&? 


«?^ 


o 


\ 


178 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


obtained  her  consent,  as  they  had  said  they  would 
do.  They  replied  that  they  had  not  seen  her.  I 
told  them  that  the  body  had  been  placed  in  my 
charge  tor  the  night,  and  I  should  not  give  it  up 
until  her  sister  had  consented ;  that  when  any 
thing,  be  it  a  horse  or  a  trunk,  was  left  in  my 
possession,  I  expected  to  care  for  it  until  the  one 
who  placed  it  with  me  called  for  it ;  that  I,  had 
waited  three  hours  for  them  to  come,  and  they 
had  not  done  so,  and  that  they  had  not  been  to 
see  her  sister,  as  they  had  promised  to  do;  that 
if  they  would  go  and  see  her  sister,  and  gain  her 
consent,  I  would  willingly  give  it  up.  I  appealed 
to  the  physician,  then  present,  and  temporarily  in 
charge  of  the  agency,  for  protection.  He  had 
been  here  only  about  six  weeks,  and  was  at  first 
a  little  afraid  that  they  would  take  it  out  during 
the  night.  But  I  was  not  afraid  of  that.  Such 
an  act  would  kill  their  religion,  and  Billy  Clams 
had  been  in  jail  too  much  to  dare  to  advise  such 
an  act.  I  told  them  I  should  not  unlock  the 
church  to  let  them  see  her  unless  they  promised 
to  let  her  remain.  They  at  last  consented  to  all 
my  propositions.  Had  I  yielded  then  I  would 
have  gained  great  enmity  from  all  of  our  side, 
who  had  been  at  much  expense  to  put  her  prop- 


THE  FIRST  BATTLE. 


179 


perly  in  the  coffin,  and  would  have  made  no  friends 
on  the  other  side.  They  promised  to  bring  her 
sister  down  the  next  morning  and  settle  it.  The 
next  morning  Billy  Clams  came  alone,  and  when  I 
asked  if  all  were  soon  coming,  he  replied  that  it 
was  all  settled  ;  that  they  had  talked  with  her 
sister  some  the  previous  night,  and  also  on  that 
morning ;  that  her  sister's  words  had  been  very 
fierce,  and  that  they  had  concluded,  since  the 
body  was  in  the  church,  it  was  not  best  to  take 
it  out,  and  that  I  should  have  complete  control 
of  the  funeral ;  that  they  would  not  come  to  the 
church  if  I  did  not  wish  them  to  do  so,  but  that 
they  would  wait  on  the  road  to  the  grave  until 
the  services  were  done,  for  they  jvould  like  to  go 
to  the  grave,  if  I  had  no  objections.  I.  replied 
that  I  was  glad  of  their  decision,  and  that  I  would 
be  very  glad  to  have  them  all  attend  the  services 
in  the  church.  They  all  came  ;  were  very  cordial 
to  our  side.  Some  of  them  took  especial  pains 
to  cross  themselves  and  shake  hands  with  my 
children  and  myself.  We  all  went  to  the  grave 
together ;  her  son  made  presents  to  all  there  :  and 
the  first  battle  was  fought  and  won  by  our  Great 
Captain. 


' ) 


XXVI. 

THE   VICTORY. 

T)UT  although  ca:t  clown,  they  were  not  de- 
■*-^  stroyed.  I  was  a  little  surprised  to  see  how 
strongly  they  still  clung  to  their  religion.  They 
returned  to  their  cimp,  held  their  services  often 
from  six  o'clock  until  twelve  at  night,  shook  by  the 
hour,  lit  candles  and  placed  them  on  their  heads 
and  danced  around  with  them  thus,  sang  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  for  miles  away,  acted  much 
like  Indian  doctors,  only  they  professed  to  try  to 
get  rid  of  sins  instead  of  sickness,  and  so  acted 
that  in  the  physician's  opinion  it  was  likely  to 
make  some  of  them  crazy.  When  Ellen  was  first 
taken  sick  I  had  more  than  half-expected  that  she 
would  die,  for  I  believed  that  Providence  would 
take  away  one  of  their  number  before  their  eyes 
would  be  open  enough  to  see  the  foolishness  of  it 
—  but  I  hoped  that  one  death  would  be  enough. 
In  the  meantime  the  agent  made  us  a  flying  visit, 
and  made  some  threats  of  what  he  might  do  if  the 
foolishness  was  not  stopped.     As  long  as  it  was 

180 


rilE    VICTORY. 


i8i 


purely  a  Catholic  church  he  felt  that  he  had  no 
right  to  interfere,  but  now  the  Catholic  cere- 
monies were  a  very  small  part,  merely  like  a  thin 
spreading  of  butter  over  something  else,  and  he 
knew  that  if  a  Catholic  priest  had  charge  he  would 
have  locked  them  up  very  quickly.  He  proposed 
to  visit  us  again  about  the  middle  of  October,  and 
spread  a  report  that  if  they  did  not  stop  he  might 
depose  the  chiefs  and  banish  Billy  C  ains.  He 
had  the  right  to  do  the  latter,  be*. 'i  use,  when 
Billy  Clams  had  returned  to  the  reservation  a  few 
years  previous,  after  having  resided  at  Port  Mad- 
ison for  quite  a  time,  he  was  allowed  to  come  only 
on  promise  of  good  behavior.  His  misdeeds 
were  not  to  be  forgotten,  but  only  laid  on  a  shelf 
for  future  reference,  if  required.  But  this  threat 
apparently  did  not  frighten  .'^em.  The  chiefs 
did  not  care  if  they  were  deposed,  were  about 
ready  to  resign,  and  did  not  wish  to  have  any  thing 
more  to  do  with  the  "  Boston  "  religion  or  the 
agent.  Billy  Clams  was  ready,  if  need  be,  to  suffer 
as  Christ  did :  he  was  willing  to  be  a  martyr. 

The  agent  came,  as  he  had  promised  to  do,  and 
spent  eight  days  with  us.  He  first  took  time  to 
look  over  affairs  quite  thoroughly,  and  felt  a  little 
afraid  to  begin  the  contest,  fearing  that  it  would 
do  more  injury  to  fight  them   than   to   let  them 


l82 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


'1 


severely  alone.     But  at  last  he  decided  that  when 
so  many  of  the  Indians  who  were  trying   to   do 
right  were  calling  for  help  in  the  battle,  and  that 
since  he  would  thus  have  quite  a  strong  Indian  in- 
fluence to  support  him,  it  was  not  right  or  wise  for 
him  to  refuse  their  appeal.     He  first  sent  for  the 
two  chiefs.     They  came,  putting  on  quite  a  show 
of  courage.     He  talked  to  them  quite  strongly,  and 
they  resigned.     It  was  better  for  the  agent  that 
they  should  do  so,  than   that   he   should   depose 
the.il,  and  they  preferred  to  do  so,  in  order  that 
they  could  say  to  the  rest  of  the  Indians  that  they 
did  not  care.     But  the  tide  was  turning.     As  soon 
as  they  had  resigned  the  other  Indians  did  not 
spare  them,  but  ridiculed  them  until  they  became 
very  crestfallen.     On  the  Sabbath  the  agent  told 
all  the  Indians  that  he  wished  them  to  come  to 
church.     They  did  so,  and  he  talked  to  them  on 
the  religious  aspect  of  the  affair  as  far  as  was 
proper  on   that   day.     The   next   day  he   held  a 
council.     He  did  not  threaten   Billy  Clams,  but 
told  him  how  there  had  always  been  trouble  where 
Indians  had  tried  to  have  two  religions   at   the 
same  place ;  how  in  order  to  prevent  this  trouble 
the  government,  eleven  years  previous,  assigned 
different  agencies  to  different  denominations,  and 
he  advised  him  to  return  to  Port  Madison,  from 


! 


I 


THE    VICTORY. 


183 


which  he  had  come,  where  the  Indians  were  all 
Catholics,  if  he  wished  to  be  one.  He  made  a 
long  speech,  as  strong  as  he  could,  on  the  subject, 
told  them  that  the  shaking  part  of  the  religion 
must  be  stopped  on  the  reservation,  and  appointed 
new  chiefs,  on  whom  he  could  depend,  to  see  that 
this  order  was  enforced.  They  were  conquered, 
and  consulted  what  was  best  to  do.  They  all 
agreed  to  abandon  the  shaking  part  of  the  so- 
called  religion.  A  part  were  in  favor  of  keeping 
up  the  purely  Catholic  religion,  but  the  tide  had 
turned  too  much  for  this.  Other  Indians  had 
overcome  their  fears  and  talked  strongly,  and  at 
last  they  decided  to  abandon  every  thing  in  con- 
nection with  their  services.  The  first  that  I  knew 
of  this  decision  was  that  Billy  Clams  came  to  me 
and  told  me  of  this  decision,  and  said  that  his  set 
were  now  without  any  religion,  and  that  if  T  would 
go  and  teach  them  they  would  be  glad  to  have  me 
do  so,  but  if  not,  they  should  go  without  any  ser- 
vices. I  replied  that  I  would  gladly  teach  them, 
and  went  that  evening  to  hold  a  service  with  them. 
There  were  two  young  men  in  the  band  who  had 
long  been  in  school.  These  now  took  hold  well, 
read  to  their  friends  from  the  Bible,  made  and 
taught  them  new  songs,  and  the  victory  was 
gained. 


I'll 


IV 


XXVII. 

RECONSTRUCTION.       ■ 

OTILL  the  process  of  reconstruction  was  slow. 
*^  The  wounds  which  had  been  made  were  deep, 
and  distrust  reigned  between  the  two  parties  for 
a  time.  Although  conquered,  all  were  not  con- 
verted,, and  some  of  them  at  times  longed  for  the 
flesh  -  pots  of  Egypt.  Two  things  gave  much 
opportunity  for  gossip  during  the  following  winter. 
The  business  of  logging  had  gone  down  and  the 
Indians  had  little  to  do.  Also,  during  the  previous 
summer,  the  chiefs  had  not  attended  to  their 
proper  business,  and  had  let  a  number  of  crimes  go 
unpunished,  especially  drunkenness,  and  the  new 
board  of  chiefs  had  so  many  to  punish  that  it 
created  considerable  feeling.  At  first  the  shakers 
took  hold  well  in  our  meetings,  as  well  as  If 
they  were  one  with  us.  But  a  child  of  one  of 
them  was  taken  fatally  sick,  and  while  nothing 
could  be  proved,  yet  there  was  evidence  enough 
to  convince  most  of  the  Indians  and  whites  that 
there  was  a  little  shaking  among  them,  and  then 

181 


RECONSTRUCTION, 


185 


the  other  Indians  lost  confidence  in  their  sincerity 
and  did  not  longer  want  them  as  leaders  of 
religion,  and  so  they  dropped  into  the  common 
ranks. 

A  slightlv  new  element  also  kept  affairs  dis- 
turbed. It  was  Big  John.  At  the  time  of  the 
big  meeting  in  August  he  was  present  and  was 
attacked  with  the  shaking  as  badly  as  any  one. 
His  wife  belonged  in  that  region,  and  so  he  did 
not  return  to  the  reservation  with  the  other 
Indians,  and  was  not  here  when  the  victory  over 
them  was  obtained.  He  went  to  Mud  Bay  and 
set  up  a  party  of  his  own,  and  he  carried  the 
shaking  farther  than  the  originators  had  done. 
He  even  out-Heroded  Herod.  He  claimed  to  be 
Christ,  a  claim  which  was  allowed  him  by  his  fol- 
lowers, and  at  the  head  of  about  seventy-five  of 
them  he  rode  through  the  streets  of  Olympia 
with  his  hands  outstretched  as  Christ  was  when 
crucified.  After  the  conquest  had  been  made  at 
Skokomish,  he  was  ordered  by  the  agent  to  return 
home,  as  he  was  creating  so  much  trouble  among 
other  Indians  under  Agent  Eells.  But  he  was 
slow  to  obey.  He  came  once  in  November, 
when  he  was  so  attacked  in  regard  to  his 
claims  of  being  Christ  by  the  school-teacher  and 


m\ 


186 


yA.V   YEAKS  AT  SKOKOAIISII. 


the  Indians,  that  he  gave  up  this  claim  and 
said  he  was  only  a  prophet.  As  he  had  not 
brought  his  wife  with  him,  he  returned  to  her,  and 
it  was  not  until  several  orders  had  been  given  for 
him  to  come  home,  and  policemen  had  gone  for 
him  more  than  once,  that  he  came.  His  orders 
then  were  to  remain  on  the  reservation,  and  stop 
shaking.  He  remained  here  for  a  time,  but  kept 
up  a  quiet  kind  of  shaking  more  or  less  of  the 
time.  At  last  he  left  the  reservation  and  went 
back  without  permission.  He  was  again  brought 
home  and  locked  up  for  about  four  weeks.  This 
conquered  him,  and  he  made  but  little  further 
trouble,  and  this  pretty  effectually  killed  the 
return  of  any  on  the  reservation  to  shaking. 

Three  of  the  shaking*  set  have  now  been  admit- 
ted to  the  church,  after  six  and  nine  months* 
probation. 

Off  of  the  reservation  this  shaking  spread.  It 
took  almost  entire  possession  of  the  Indians  on 
the  Chehalis  Reservation,  and  entered  the  school 
in  such  a  way  that  the  agent  and  school-teacher 
there  felt  obliged  to  stop  it  by  force,  or  allow  the 
school  to  be  broken  up. 

At  Squaxon  there  were  no  government  em- 
ployees and  it  was  not  possible  to  put  a  complete 


KECONSTJi  UCTION, 


187 


stop  to  it  there,  so  it  was  allowed  to  have  its  own 
way  more.  Their  great  prophecy  has  been  that 
the  world  would  come  to  an  end  on  the  Fourth  of 
July,  1884,  but,  although  they  assembled  and  held 
a  big  meeting,  and  waited  for  the  expected  result, 
it  did  not  come,  and  so  their  faith  has  been  some- 
what shaken,  although  now  they  have  extended 
the  time  one  year.  Going  to  various  places  to 
obtain  work  has  also  broken  them  into  very  small 
parties,  and  also  occupied  them,  so  that  at  present 
it  seems  to  be  dying. 


•1 


I 


XXVIII. 

JOHN    FOSTER   PALMER. 

T  TE  was  born  near  Port  Townsend,  about  1847, 
-*■  *■  and  belonged  to  the  now  extinct  tribe  of 
the  Chemakums.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
very  young,  through  the  effects  of  intemperance, 
and  also  many  others  of  his  relations,  and  this 
made  him  a  bitter  opponent  of  drinking. 

When  ten  years  old  he  went  to  live  with  the 
family  of  Mr.  James  Seavey,  of  Port  Townsend, 
and  went  with  them  in  1859  ^o  ^^^  Francisco, 
where  he  remained  for  a  year  or  two.  He  then 
embarked  on  a  sailing-vessel,  and  spent  most  of 
the  time  until  1863  or  1864  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Amoor  River,  in  Asiatic  Russia.  Returning  then 
to  Puget  Sound,  he  served  under  the  government 
at  the  Neah  Bay  Reservation  for  a  time,  but  about 
1868  he  came  to  the  Skokomish  Reservation,  where 
he  ever  afterward  made  his  home,  serving  as  inter- 
preter a  large  share  of  the  time,  eight  years  under 
Agent  Eells. 

He    understood    four    Indian    languages :    the 

188 


ir 


JOHN    F.  PALMER. 


^■(^^^WWIi^BIBiWWi 


""i 


JOHN  FOSTER  PALMER, 


189 


Twana,  Nisqually,  Clallam,  and  Chinook  jargon, 
also  the  Russian  and  English,  and  could  read 
and  write  English  quite  well.  He  had  a  library 
worth  fifty  dollars,  and  took  several  newspapers 
and  magazines,  both  Eastern  and  Western,  al- 
though he  only  went  to  school  two  or  three 
weeks  in  his  life.  To  Mr.  Seavey's  family,  and 
the  captain's  wife  on  the  vessel  when  in  Russian 
waters,  he  always  felt  grateful  for  his  education. 

When  the  church  was  organized  at  Skokomish, 
1874,  he  united  with  it,  being  the  first  Indian  to 
do  so.  He  lived  to  see  twenty  others  unite  with 
it.  On  two  points  he  was  very  firm  :  against  in- 
temperance and  the  heathen  superstitions :  being 
far  in  advance  of  any  member  of  the  tribe  on  the 
latter  point,  with  the  exception  of  M.  F.,  soon  to 
be  mentioned  —  in  fact,  it  was  truly  said  of  him, 
that  he  was  more  of  a  white  man  than  an  Indian. 

He  loved  the  prayer-meeting,  and  while  tem- 
poraril)  living  at  Seabeck,  a  short  time  before  his 
death,  where  he  was  at  work,  thirty  miles  from 
home,  he  returned  to  Skokomish  to  spend  the 
holidays,  and  remained  an  additional  week  so  that 
he  might  be  present  at  the  daily  meetings  of  the 
Week  of  Prayer.  He  constantly  took  part  in  the 
prayer-meetings,  and  with  the   other  older  male 


ni  I 


i; 


190 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKCMISH. 


members  of  the  church  took  his  turn  in  leading 
them. 

He  had  no  children  of  his  own,  but  brought  up 
his  wife's  two  sisters.  When  he  united  with  the 
church,  he  said  :  "  Now  I  want  my  wife  to  become 
a  Christian,"  and  he  lived  to  see  her  and  her  two 
sisters  unite  with  the  church.  The  elder  of  them 
married,  and  her  child,  Leila  Spar,  was  the  first 
Indian  child  who  received  the  rite  of  infant  bap- 
tism, July  4,  1880.  He  was  killed  instantly  at 
Seabeck,  February  2,  1881,  while  at  work  at  the 
saw-mill,  having  been  accidentally  knocked  off 
from  a  platform,  and  striking  on  his  head  among 
short  sharp-cornered  refuse  lumber  and  slabs  about 
ten  feet  below.  The  side  of  his  head  was  crushed 
in,  and  after  he  was  picked  up  he  never  spoke,  and 
only  breathed  a  few  times.  He  was  far  in  advance 
of  his  tribe,  and  has  left  an  influence  which  will  be 
felt  for  many  years  to  come.  It  was  a  pleasure 
once  for  me  to  hear  a  rough,  swearing  white 
man,  in  speaking  of  him,  say:  "John  Palmer  is 
a  gentleman ! " 


eading 


ght  up 

ith  the 

Decome 

er  two 

f  them 

le  first 

nt  bap- 

ntly  at 

at  the 

ced   off 

among 

s  about 

:rushed 

ke,  and 

idvance 

will  be 

ileasure 

white 

Imer  is 


i 


1 1 


! 


i 


I 


MILTON    FISHER. 


f  I 


XXIX. 
M- — -  F- 


T  T  E  was  a  full-blooded  Twana  Indian,  but  from 
■*■  -*■  his  earliest  infancy  lived  with  his  step- 
father, who  was  a  white  man.  A  part  of  the  time 
he  lived  very  near  to  the  reservation,  and  after- 
ward about  thirty  miles  from  it.  The  region 
where  he  lived  was  entirely  destitute  of  schools 
and  church  privileges.  His  step-father,  however, 
when  he  realized  that  the  responsibility  of  the 
moral  and  Christian  training  of  his  children  rested 
wholly  upon  himself,  took  up  the  work  quite  well. 
His  own  early  religious  training,  which  had  been 
as  seed  long  buried,  now  came  back  to  him,  and 
he  gave  his  children  some  good  instruction  which 
had  excellent  effect  on  M.  Still  when  he  was 
twenty-two  years  of  age  he  had  never  been  to 
church,  school.  Sabbath-school,  or  a  prayer-meet- 
ing. He  was  a  steady,  industrious  young  man, 
had  learned  to  farm,  log,  build  boats,  —  being  of 
a  mechanical  turn  of  mind,  —  and  had  built  for 

himself  a  good  sloop.     When  he  was  twenty-one 

m 


\  mi 

• :-  '3 


i 


1 


1^ 


192 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


I  j 


I ; 


he  had  learned  something  of  the  value  of  an  edu- 
cation from  his  lack  of  it,  for  he  could  barely  read 
and  write  in  a  very  slow  way,  and  was  tired  of 
counting  his  fingers  when  he  traded  and  attended 
to  business.  Therefore  he  saved  his  money  until 
he  had  about  two  hundred  dollars,  and  when  he 
was  twenty-two  he  requested  the  privilege  of 
coming  to  the  reservation  and  going  to  school. 
It  was  granted,  not  like  other  Indian  children,  for 
they  were  boarded  and  clothed  at  government 
expense,  but  because  his  step-father  was  a  white 
man  he  was  required  to  board  and  clothe  himself, 
his  tuition  being  free.  He  willingly  did  his  part. 
This  was  a  little  after  New  Year's,  1877.  He  im- 
proved his  time  better  than  any  person  who  has 
ever  been  in  school,  oftentimes  studying  very  late. 
Thus  he  spent  three  winters  at  school,  working  at 
his  home  during  the  summers. 

A  few  days  before  he  left  for  home  at  the  close 
of  his  first  winter  was  our  communion  season. 
On  the  Thursday  evening  previous  was  our  pre- 
paratory lecture  and  church-meeting,  and  the  man 
and  his  wife  where  he  was  boarding  presented 
themselves  as  candidates  for  admission.  Nothing, 
however,  was  said  to  him  about  it.  Indeed  it  is 
doubtful  whether  much  had  ever  been  said  to  him 


M- 


F~ 


193 


personally  on  the  subject,  for  he  was  of  a  quiet 
disposition.  But  a  day  or  two  afterward  he  spoke 
to  the  family  where  he  was  boarding  and  said  that 
he  would  like  to  join  the  church,  but  had  been 
almost  afraid  to  ask.  The  word  was  soon  passed 
to  my  father,  and  the  first  I  knew  about  it  was 
that  he  came  to  me  and  said  :  **  See,  here  is  water, 
what  doth  hinder  rae  from  being  baptized } "  I 
said  :  "  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  "  His  reply 
was :  "I  do  not  know  but  that  we  have  just 
such  a  case  among  us."  And  then  he  explained 
about  M.  Another  church-meeting  was  held  and 
he  was  received  into  the  church  on  the  following 
Sabbath.  Previous  to  this  he  had  never  witnessed 
a  baptism  or  the  administration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper. 

When  he  had  finished  going  to  school,  he  re- 
ceived in  1879  the  appointment  of  government 
carpenter  on  the  reservation,  the  first  Indian  ever 
in  that  place,  and  the  first  Indian  employee  on 
the  reservation  except  the  interpreter  receiving 
the  same  wages  as  a  white  man.  He  remained  in 
this  position  a  few  years,  when  his  health  failed 
and  he  resigned.  No  fault  was  found  with  his 
work,  for  he  was  very  faithful  and  steady,  and 
could  be  depended  on  to  work  alone,  or  to  be  in 


I    i'  1 


194 


TEN   YEAFS  AT  SKOKOMISIL 


charge  of  apprentices  and  others  with  no  fear  that 
the  work  would  be  slighted.  He  afterward,  for  a 
time,  lived  mainly  with  the  whites,  as  the  govern- 
ment cut  down  the  pay  for  all  Indians  so  low  that 
he  could  earn  much  better  wages  elsewhere.  He 
often  lived  with  a  very  rough  class  of  whites  at 
saw-mills  and  among  loggers,  but  he  held  fast 
to  his  profession.  In  his  quiet  way  he  spoke 
many  an  effectual  word  for  Christ,  and  gained  the 
respect  of  those  with  whom  he  mingled  by  his 
consistent  Christian  life.  Lately,  however,  he  has 
gone  to  the  Puyallup  Reservation,  where  he  has 
secured  a  good  piece  of  land  and  has  taken  a 
leading  part  among  those  Indians. 


XXX. 

DISCOURAGING   CASES   AND   DIS- 
APPOINTMENTS. 


"P  A.  was  a  Clallam,  and  one  of  the  earlier 
■■■  •  school-boys.  He  had  left  the  reservation 
previous  to  1874  and  lived  and  worked  with  his 
friends  at  Port  Discovery.  In  April,  1875,  he 
returned  with  three  of  his  Port  Discovery  friends 
on  a  visit  in  good  style.  He  said  that  he  had 
worked  steadily,  earned  hundreds  of  dollars,  and 
he  gave  a  brother  of  his  in  school  quite  a  sum  ; 
that  he  had  taught  a  small  Indian  school ;  that  he 
was  trying  to  have  church  services  on  the  Sab- 
bath ;  that  the  Indians  at  Port  Discovery  were 
about  to  buy  some  land  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars,  and  that  he  had  now  come  for  advice, 
religious  instruction,  school-books,  and  the  like. 
The  agent  furnished  him  with  school-books  and 
papers,  and  I  gave  him  four  written  prayers,  two 
Chinook-jargon  songs,  and  a  Testament.  This 
was  only  a  week  after  Balch  and  some  of  the 
Indians  at  Jamestown  had  visited   us,  who  were 


,ii 


IjI 


1 


196 


.1 


l» 


r 


1 1 


196 


TEN   YEAR  a  AT  SKOKOMISll. 


making  good  progress.  One  of  the  employees  on 
seeing  F.  A,  come,  just  after  the  other  (Clallam) 
Indians  had  visited  us,  said :  "  The  agent  is 
making  his  influence  felt  far  and  wide  for  good." 
But  before  F.  A.  left  he  wanted  to  be  made  head 
chief  of  the  tribe.  The  agent  said  that  the  pres- 
ent chief  was  doing  well,  that  he  had  no  good 
reason  for  removing  him,  and  that  he  would  not 
do  so  unless  a  majority  of  the  tribe  desired  it,  but 
that  he  would  make  F.  A.  a  policeman  if  he 
wished  so  to  be.  But  he  did  not  want  this.  He 
said  that  after  what  he  had  told  his  friends  before 
leaving  home,  he  would  be  ashamed  to  go  back 
without  his  being  made  chief.  His  three  friends 
said  also  that  they  wished  him  to  be  chief.  This 
showed  that  something  was  wrong,  and  by  the 
time  all  was  ferreted  out,  it  was  found  that  he  had 
procured  the  horses  for  his  party  at  Olympia  at  a 
high  price,  which  he  had  said  the  agent  would 
pay,  that  his  style  was  all  put  on,  and  that  in 
reality  he  was  very  worthless.  It  cost  his  friends 
more  than  twenty  dollars  to  pay  for  the  use  of 
the  horses,  which  he  had  afterward  to  work  out, 
as  he  had  no  money.  He  tried  to  run  away  with 
one  of  the  girls  not  long  afterward,  and  never  said 
any  thing  more  about  his  school,  church,  and  land. 


DISCOURAGING   CASES. 


197 


In  1883  he  returned  to  the  reservation  to  live,  but 
does  not  help  the  Indians  much  in  regard  to 
Christianity. 

L.  was  from  Port  Ludlow,  fifty-five  miles  away, 
a  half-breed,  and  was  in  school  for  a  year  or  two. 
In  the  fall  of  1879  he  took  hold  well  in  prayer- 
meetings,  and  wished  to  join  the  church  ;  but  he 
was  too  desirous  for  this,  it  seemed  to  me,  and 
answered  questions  too  readily.  The  church 
deliberated  long  about  him,  for  several  were  not 
fully  satisfied,  yet,  on  the  whole,  it  was  thought 
best  to  receive  him,  and  it  was  done  in  January, 
1880.  The  next  summer  he  went  home  to  remain, 
but  while  in  most  respects  he  has  been  steady  and 
industrious,  having  a  good  reputation  about  not 
drinking  or  gambling,  yet  he  does  not  honor  a 
Christian  profession. 

M.  was  a  half-breed  school-boy,  and  was  brought 
up  in  school.  After  the  first  three  school-boys 
began  to  think  that  they  were  Christians,  he 
joined  them.  After  having  been  a  year  on  pro- 
bation, he  was  received  into  the  church  in  July, 
1878,  when  he  was  thirteen  or  fourteen  years 
old.  He  did  fairly  until  he  left  the  reservation, 
three  or  four  years  afterward,  when  he  went  to  a 
white  logging-camp  where  his  brother  and  brother- 
in-law  were  at   work.     Logging  -  camps   are   not 


198 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


\'S 


noted  for  their  morals,  and  their  influence  on  a 
young  man  can  not  be  good  in  this  respect.  He 
remained  steadier  th:.n  most  whites  around  him, 
and  his  instruction  if,  not  lost,  but  his  Christian 
life  is  sadly  dwarfed,  if  it  can  be  seen  at  all. 

W.  was  among  the  first  three  of  the  school-boys 
to  join  the  church,  after  a  full  year's  probation,  at 
the  age  of  about  thirteen.  He  stood  well  fr  about 
two  years,  while  in  school,  as  a  Christian,  c  Jured 
considerable  persecution,  and  was  especially  con- 
scientious. Rut  as  he  grew  older  he  went  the 
wrong  way.  His  father  was  a  medicine-man,  and 
this  probably  had  something  to  do  with  his  life, 
for  when  he  went  out  into  the  outer  Indian  world 
he  seemed  to  grow  peculiarly  hardened,  so  that  he 
seldom  came  to  church  or  Sabbath-school,  and  did 
not  treat  religion  with  the  respect  which  the  older 
Indians  did  who  made  no  pretensions  to  Christian- 
ity. For  immoral  conduct  we  were  at  last  obliged 
to  suspend  him. 

As  I  look  over  the  church-roll  I  find  that  nearly 
all  the  first  Indian  members  were  from  the  school ; 
then  came  the  earlier  uneducated  Indians,  and  then 
the  later  ones.  It  makes  me  sad  when  I  see  how 
many  of  the  first  ones  who  have  been  educated 
have  been  suspended  before  they  were  settled  in 
life.     Yet  it  must  be  said  that  those  school  chil- 


DISCOURAGING   CASES. 


199 


dren  prepared  the  way  for  the  earlier  uneducated 
Indians,  and  these  likewise  prepared  the  way  for 
the  later  ones.  This  second  class  watching  the 
failures  of  the  first  learned  wisdom  and  stood 
firmer,  and  the  last  class  learning  more  wisdom  by 
further  observation  have  stood  still  firmer. 

Simon  Peter  was  one  of  the  better  Indian  boys 
of  the  Twanas,  and  was  in  school  about  as  soon 
as  he  was  old  enough.  A  younger  brother,  An- 
drew, was  one  of  the  first  three  of  the  school-boys 
to  join  us  in  January,  1877,  and,  like  the  brothers 
in  he  Bible,  where  Andrew  first  found  Christ  and 
then  led  his  brother  Simon  to  him,  so  now  Andrew 
evidently  led  Simon  along  until,  in  January,  1878, 
he  joined  the  church.  He  belonged  to  a  good 
family  and  was  well  respected  and  I  hoped  much 
from  him  in  the  future,  but  in  this  I  was  doomed 
to  disappointment,  for  consumption  had  marked 
him  as  its  own,  and  in  June,  1879,  he  died.  Just 
before  he  died  he  took  his  brother's  hand,  said  he 
hoped  this  brother  would  not  turn  back  from 
Christianity  as  some  boys  had  done,  and  thus  held 
him  till  he  died.  A  young  man  of  the  Puyallup 
tribe,  who  is  now  an  Indian  preacher,  told  me  that 
he  owed  his  conversion  to  a  letter  he  received 
from  Simon  Peter.  Thus,  "  being  dead,  he  yet 
speaketh." 


J 


y 


i  I 


m 


i  I 


III 


!    6 


I  :i 


i; 


XXXI. 

THE  CHURCH   AT  JAMESTOWN. 

TN  the  section  about  the  Field  and  Work  some 
-^  account  has  been  given  of  the  beginning  of 
civilization  at  this  place.  The  Indians  there  had 
at  first  no  help  from  the  government,  because 
they  were  not  on  a  reservation.  They  had,  how- 
ever, some  worthy  aspirations,  and  realized  that 
if  they  should  rise  at  all  they  must  do  so  largely 
through  their  own  efforts.  This  has  been  an  ad- 
vantage to  them,  for  they  have  become  more  self- 
reliant  than  those  on  the  reservation,  who  have 
been  too  willing  to  be  carried. 

The  agent,  on  some  of  his  first  visits  to  them, 
gave  them  some  religious  instruction,  and  at  times 
they  gathered  together  on  the  Sabbath  for  some 
kind  of  religious  worship,  which  then  consisted 
mainly  in  singing  a  song  or  two  and  talking 
together. 

In  March,  1875,  their  chief.  Lord  James  Balch, 
while  on  a  business  visit  to  the  reservation,  was 
very  anxious  to  obtain  rcligiou':  instruction.     All 


THE   CHURCH  AT  JAMESTOWN. 


201 


ATN. 

)rk  some 
nning  of 
here  had 
,  because 
lad,  how- 
ized   that 

0  largely 
;n  an  ad- 
lore  self- 
/ho   have 

to  them, 

at  times 

for  some 

consisted 

1  talking 

es  Balch, 
Ltion,  was 
ion.     All 


was  given  to  him  that  I  could  furnish,  which  con- 
sisted of  instruction,  a  Chinook  song  or  two,  and 
a  few  Bible  pictures.  He  retur'^ed  with  more 
earnestness  to  bold  meetings  at-  home. 

My  first  visit  to  them  was  the  next  fall,  in  a 
tour  with  the  agent,  and  then  their  village  was 
named  Jamestown,  after  their  chief.  Since  then 
I  have  generally  been  able  to  spend  two  Sabbaths, 
twice  a  year,  with  them. 

They  continued  their  meetings,  and  usually  met 
in  one  of  their  best  houses  for  church  on  the 
Sabbath.  After  a  time  they  selected  one  of  their 
number,  called  Cook  House  Billy,  to  pray  in  their 
chuich  services,  as  he  had  lived  for  some  time  in 
a  white  family,  could  talk  English,  and  knew  at 
least  more  about  the  external  forms  of  worship 
than  the  rest. 

In  1877  the  Indians  began  to  thfnk  about  erect- 
ing a  church-building  for  themselves.  They  orig- 
inated the  idea,  but  it  was  heartily  seconded  by 
the  agent  and  missionary.  About  the  time  of  its 
dedication  Balch  said  it  was  no  white  man  who 
suggested  the  idea  of  building  it  to  him,  but  he 
thought  it  must  have  been  Jesus.  It  was  so  far 
completed  by  April,  1878,  as  to  be  dedicated  on 
the  eighth  of  that  month. 


*  *' 


202 


TEN  YE4RS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


^!    1 


I  ' 


About  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  persons  were 
seated  in  the  house :  ninety  Clallams,  ten  Makah 
Indians,  and  twenty-five  whites.  The  house  is 
small,  sixteen  by  twenty-four  feet.  It  was  made 
of  upright  boards,  battened  and  whitewashed.  It 
was  ceiled  and  painted  overhead.  It  was  not 
quite  done,  for  it  was  afterward  clothed  and 
papered  and  a  belfry  built  in  front,  but  was  so 
far  finished  as  to  be  used.  Although  not  large 
or  quite  finished,  yet  there  were  three  good  things 
about  it :  it  was  built  according  to  their  means, 
was  paid  for  as  far  as  it  was  finished,  and  was  the 
first  church-building  in  the  county.  Its  total  cost 
at  that  time,  including  their  work,  was  about  a 
hundred  and  sixty-si  v  dollars.  Of  this,  thirty- 
seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents  were  given  by  white 
persons,  mostly  on  the  reservation,  four  dollars 
were  given  by  Twa  iZ.  Indians,  and  some  articles, 
as  paint,  lime,  nails,  windows,  and  door,  came 
from  their  government  annuities,  it  being  their 
desire  that  these  things  should  be  given  for  this 
purpose  rather  than  to  themselves  personally.  It 
was  the  first  white  building  in  the  village,  and  had 
the  effect  of  making  them  whitewash  other  houses 
afterward. 

The   evening   before   the  dedication    the    first 


THE    CHURCH  AT  JAMESTOWN. 


203 


prayer  -  meeting  ever  among  them  was  held. 
Five  Indians  took  part,  most  or  all  of  whom 
were  accustomed  to  ask  a  blessing  at  their  meals. 
This  prayer-meeting  has  never  since  been  suffered 
to  die. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  the  next  December 
that  any  of  them  became  members  of  the  church. 
Then  two  men  joined.  They  really  united  with 
the  church  at  Skokomish,  although  they  were  re- 
ceived at  Jamestown.  For  a  time  this  became  a 
branch  of  the  Skokomish  church.  The  first  com- 
munion service  was  then  held  among  them.  Only 
five  persons  in  all  participated  in  the  communion. 

No  more  of  those  Indians  joined  until  April, 
1880,  when  four  more  became  members,  two  of 
whom  were  Indians,  and  the  next  December  two 
more  joined. 

A  rather  singular  incident  happened  a  year 
later.  Some  of  the  older  Indians,  including  the 
chief,  were  not  satisfied  with  the  slow  growth  of 
the  church ;  but  instead  of  remedying  affairs  by 
coming  out  boldly  for  Christ,  they  chose  three 
young  men,  who  were  believed  to  be  moral  at 
least,  and  asked  them  to  join  and  help  the  cause 
along.  These  consented,  although  they  had  never 
taken  any  part  in  religious  services  or  been  known 


\A 


1 1 


!    t 


1    , 


'I  i 


:H 


\i 


204 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


!  ll 


as  Christians,  As  I  was  not  informed  of  the  wish 
until  Sabbath  morning,  I  did  not  think  it  wise  to 
receive  them  then,  but  replied  that  if  they  held 
out  well  until  my  next  visit,  in  five  months,  I 
should  have  no  objection.  They  were  hardly  will- 
ing at  first  to  wait  so  long,  but  at  last  submitted. 
Before  the  five  months  had  passed,  one  of  them, 
the  least  intelligent,  had  gone  back  to  his  old 
ways,  where  he  still  remains,  and  the  other  two 
were  received  into  the  church,  one  of  whom  has 
done  especially  well  and  has  been  superintendent 
of  the  Sabbath-school.  Yet  it  always  seemed  a 
singular  way  of  becoming  Christians,  more  as  if 
made  so  by  others  than  of  their  own  free  will, 
they  simply  consenting  to  the  wishes  of  others. 
God  works  in  various  ways. 

During  the  winter  of  1 880-81  a  medicine-man 
made  a  feast  on  Sabbath  evening  and  invited  all 
the  Indians  to  it.  It  was  to  be,  however,  a  bait 
for  a  large  amount  of  tamahnous,  which  was  to 
take  place.  The  Indians  went,  the  members  of 
the  church  as  well  as  the  rest,  leaving  the  evening 
service  in  order  to  attend  it.  The  school-teacher 
felt  very  badly  and  wrote  me  immediately  about 
it ;  but  a  little  later  he  learned  that  on  that  same 
evening  the  Christian  Indians,  feeling  that  they 


THE   CHURCH  AT  JAMESTOWN. 


205 


were  doing  wrong,  left  the  place  before  the  feast 
was  over,  went  to  one  of  their  houses,  where  they 
held  a  prayer-meeting  and  confessed  their  sin,  and 
on  the  following  Thursday  evening,  at  the  general 
prayer-meeting  made  a  public  confession.  We 
could  ask  for  nothing  more,  but  could  thank  the 
Holy  Spirit  for  inclining  them  thus  to  do  before 
any  white  person  had  spoken  to  them  about  it. 

Knowing  of  four  new  ones  who  wished  to  join 
the  church  in  April,  1882,  I  thought  that  the  time 
had  come  to  organize  them  into  a  church  by  them- 
selves. So  letters  were  granted  by  the  Skokomish 
church  to  seven  v/ho  lived  at  Jamestown,  and  the 
church  was  organized  April  30,  1882,  with  eleven 
members,  nine  of  whom  were  Indians.  The  ser- 
vices were  in  such  a  babel  of  languages  that  their 
order  is  here  given  :  Singing  in  Clallam  and  then 
in  English  ;  reading  of  the  Scriptures  in  English ; 
praver  by  Rev.  H.  C.  Minckler,  of  the  Methodist- 
Episcopal  church,  the  school-teacher ;  singing  in 
Clallam ;  ^reaching  in  Chinook,  translated  into 
Clr'llam  ;  singing  in  Chinook ;  baptism  of  an  in- 
fant son  of  a  white  church  member  in  English ; 
prayer  in  English  ;  singing  in  English  ;  propound- 
ing the  articles  of  faith  and  covenant  in  English, 
translated  into  Clallam,  together  with  the  baptism 


'  r 


206 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


!:  li 


of  four  adults ;  giving  of  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship, in  English,  translated  into  Clallam ;  prayer 
in  Chinook ;  singing  in  Chinook ;  talk  previous  to 
the  distribution  of  the  bread,  in  Chinook,  trans- 
lated into  Clallam ;  prayer  in  English ;  distribu- 
tion of  the  bread ;  talk  in  English ;  prayer  in 
Chinook,  followed  by  the  distribution  of  the 
cup ;  singing  in  English  a  hymn  in  which  nearly 
all  the  Indians  could  join ;  benediction  in  Chi- 
nook. A  number  of  their  white  neighbors  gath- 
ered in,  to  the  encouragement  of  the  Indians,  six 
of  whom  communed  with  us. 

The  next  fall  three  more  jCiUed,  and  seven 
more  in  1883,  one  of  whom  was  a  venerable 
white-haired  white  man,  over  seventy  years  old. 
In  the  fall  of  that  year  five  infants  were  baptized, 
the  first  belonging  to  the  Indians  in  the  history  of 
the  church. 

In  the  fall  of  1883  three  of  them  accompanied 
me  on  a  missionary  tour  to  Clallam  Bay.  They 
gave  their  time,  a  week,  and  the  American  Mis- 
sionary Association  paid  their  expenses.  It  was 
the  first  work  of  the  kind  which  they  had  done, 
and  I  was  pleased  with  their  earnestness  and  zeal. 
The  previous  spring  I  had  been  there,  and  there 
were  some  things  which  made  me  feel  as  if  such  a 


THE    CHURCH  AT  JAMESTOWN. 


207 


trip  might  do  good.  Still  it  is  a  hard  field  because 
a  majority  of  the  men  are  over  fifty,  and,  being  in 
the  majority,  practise  and  sing  tamahnous,  and  go 
to  potlatches  a  good  share  of  the  time  during  the 
winter.  There  is  very  little  white  religious  influ- 
ence near  them. 

When  the  day-school  first  began,  in  1878,  the 
teacher,  Mr.  J.  W.  Blakcslee,  began  also  a  Sab- 
bath-school. His  successor,  Rev.  H.  C.  Minckler, 
carried  it  on  until  he  resigned  in  April,  1883,  and 
no  other  teacher  was  procured  until  early  in  1884; 
but  then  they  chose  one  of  their  own  church 
members,  Mr.  George  D.  Howell,  who  had  been 
to  school  some,  and  still  carried  oa  the  school. 
He  served  until  November,  when  he  temporarily 
left  to  obtain  work,  and  Mr.  Howard  Chubbs  was 
chosen  as  his  successor. 

In  1880  they  procured  a  small  church-bell,  the 
first  in  the  county,  and  added  a  belfry  to  the 
church. 

Not  all,  however,  of  the  people  in  the  village 
can  be  called  adherents  to  Christianity.  There  is 
a  plain  division  among  them.  Some  are  members 
of  the  church,  a  few  who  are  not  attend  church, 
and  some  hardly  ever  go,  but  profess  to  belong  to 
the  anti-Christian  party. 


P 


I.:,  ' 


^'W^PWPWB^T' 


208 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


It  is  worthy  of  note  that  while  ClaHam  County 
had  so  many  people  in  it  as  to  be  organized  into  a 
county  in  1854,  and  had  in  1880  nearly  six  hun- 
dred white  people,  yet  these  Indians  have  the  only 
church  building  in  the  county,  the  only  church-bell, 
hold  the  only  regular  prayer-meeting,  and  at  their 
church  and  on  the  Neah  Bay  Indian  Reservation 
are  the  only  Sabbath-schools  which  are  kept  up 
steadily  summer  and  winter.  One  white  person, 
who  lives  not  far  from  Jamestown,  said  to  me  on 
one  Sabbath,  in  1880,  as  we  came  away  from  the 
church:  "It  is  a  shame,  it  is  a  shame!  that  the 
Indians  here  are  going  ahead  of  the  whites  in 
religious  affairs.  It  is  a  wonder  how  they  are 
advancing,  considering  the  example  around  them." 


■f"^l" 


w^^mm 


XXXII. 


COOK   HOUSE   BILLY. 


are 


T  TE  will  always  be  known  by  this  name,  prob- 
*-  *•  ably,  though  on  the  church  roll  his  name 
is  written  as  William  House  Cook,  He  is  a  Clal- 
lam Indian,  of  Jamestown.  His  early  life  was 
wild  and  dissipated,  he  being,  like  all  the  rest  of 
his  tribe,  addicted  to  drunkenness.  At  one  time, 
when  he  was  living  at  Port  Discovery,  he  became 
quite  drunk.  He  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
bay  from  the  mill,  and,  wishing  for  more  whiskey, 
he  started  across  in  a  canoe  for  it ;  but  he  was  so 
drunk  that  he  had  not  gone  far  before  he  upset  his 
canoe,  and  had  it  not  been  for  his  wife,  who  was 
on  shore  and  went  to  his  rescue,  he  would  have 
been  drowned. 

In  his  early  life  he  mingled  much  with  the 
whites.  He  lived  with  a  good  white  family  some  of 
the  time ;  worked  in  a  cook-house  at  a  saw-mill  for 
a  time,  where  he  gained  his  name  ;  and  once  went 
to  San  Francisco  in  a  ship.  Thus  he  learned  to 
speak  English  quite  well,  and  he  knew  more  about 

209 


y 


If  i! 


i.  i  i 


210 


TEN   YEAKS  AT  SKOKOMISH, 


i:  1 


I 


civilized  ways,  and  even  of  religion,  than  any  of 
the  older  Indians  at  Jamestown.  He  entered  will- 
ingly into  the  plan  to  buy  land,  and  soon  after 
the  people  there  first  began  to  hold  some  kind  of 
services  on  the  Sabbath,  they  selected  him  as  the 
one  to  pray,  hardly  because  he  was  better  than 
all  the  rest,  though  he  was  better  than  all  with 
two  or  three  exceptions,  but  because  he  had  been 
more  with  the  whites,  and  knew  better  how  to 
pray.  Soon  after  this,  and  long  before  he  joined 
the  church,  a  report,  which  was  probably  true,  was 
in  circulation  that  he  had  once  or  twice  secretly 
drank  some.  Thereupon  the  chief  took  him  and 
talked  strongly  to  him  about  it.  The  chief  did 
not  wish  him  to  be  minister  to  his  people  if  he 
was  likely  to  do  in  that  way,  and  at  last  asked 
him  if  he  thought  he  had  a  strong  enough  mind 
to  be  a  Christian  for  one  year.  The  reply  was. 
Yes.  Then  the  questions  were  successively  asked 
if  he  was  strong  enough  to  last  two  years,  five 
years,  ten  years,  all  his  life,  and  when  he  said 
Yes,  he  was  allowed  to  resume  his  duties  as 
leader  of  religion. 

After  this  he  remained  so  consistent  that  he 
was  one  of  the  first  two  in  Jamestown  to  unite 
with  the  church,  .in  December,  1878,  when  he  was 


COOK  J/OUSK  HILLY. 


211 


supposed  to  be  about  thirty-three  years  old.  The 
road  supervisor  in  his  district  sent  his  receipt  for 
road  taxes  to  him  one  year,  addressing  it  to  Rev. 
Cook  House  Billy. 

When  the  church  was  organized  at  Jamestown 
in  1882,  he  was  unanimously  elected  as  deacon, 
and  he  has  ever  since  filled  that  position. 

Once,  five  or  six  years  ago,  when  in  Seattle,  he 
was  asked  by  a  Catholic  Indian  of  his  own  tribe, 
belonging  to  Port  Gamble,  to  drink  some  whiskey, 
but  he  declined.  When  urged  time  and  again  to 
do  so  he  still  refused,  giving  as  his  excuse  that  he 
belonged  to  the  church.  "  So  do  I,"  said  his 
tempter;  "but  we  drink,  and  then  we  can  easily 
get  the  priest  to  pardon  us  by  paying  him  a  little 
money."  "  That  is  not  the  way  we  do  in  our 
church,"  said  Billy. 

But  afterward,  two  years  ago,  he  was  very 
strongly  tempted,  and  yielded,  while  at  Seattle. 
It  was  known,  and  soon  after  his  return  home  he 
made  his  acknowledgement  to  the  church.  On 
my  next  visit  to  them  in  the  fall  he  was  repri- 
manded, and  suspended  as  deacon  for  five  weeks. 
He  often  spoke  of  this  fall  of  his,  and  seemed  to 
be  very  sincere  in  his  repentance.  In  1883,  just 
before  he  and  nearly  all  the  Indians  of  his  village 


w 


i  I 

i 


i 


m 


I 


!i   1^ 


212 


T£^V   YEAKS  A  I'  SA'OA'OMISII. 


were  going  to  Seattle  again,  either  to  fish  or  on 
their  way  to  pick  hops,  he  sent  mc  a  letter  in 
which  was  written :  "  One  day  I  was  talking  in 
meeting  to  them  and  said  I  hoped  they  would 
none  of  them  follow  my  example  last  summer 
about  drinking,  for  I  had  never  got  over  it.  I  feel 
ashamed  and  feel  bad  every  time  I  think  about  it, 
and  hoped  none  of  them  would  have  occasion  to 
feel  as  I  did."  , 

He  is  of  a  bright,  sunny  disposition,  always 
cheerful,  and  has  done  more  for  school  and  church 
than  T.ny  of  the  rest  of  his  tribe,  unl'jss  it  may  be 
the  hea*^  '  '  *"  TJalch.  Sometimes  he  has  boarded 
three  children  tree  A  cost,  so  that  they  might  go 
to  school,  whose  parents,  if  alive,  lived  far  away. 

In  1 88 1  two  of  his  children  died,  a  fact  of 
which  the  opponents  of  religion  made  use  against 
Christianity,  and  he  xvas  severely  tried,  but  he 
stood  firm.  In  ii)8j,  with  two  others,  he  went  to 
Clallam  Bay  with  me  to  preach  the  gospel  to  those 
Indians,  the  first  actual  missionary  work  done  by 
either  Indian  church.  When  he  left  his  wife  was 
sick  ;  but,  as  he  had  promised  to  go,  she  would  not 
keep  him  back,  and  he  was  willing  to  trust  her 
.with  God.     When  we  returned  she  was  well. 

His  wife  is  a  true  helpmeet  to  him.     She  did 


COOK  HOUSE  BILLY. 


213 


not  join  the  church  for  a  year  and  a  half  after  he 
did ;  but  he  afterward  said  that  she  was  really 
ahead  of  him,  and  urged  him  to  begin  and  to  stand 
fast.  When  I  examined  her  for  reception  into  the 
church,  I  noticed  one  expression  of  hers  which  I 
shall  always  remember.  In  speaking  of  her  sor- 
row for  her  s'r.s,  she  said  that  her  "heart  cried  " 
about  them.  An  expression  was  in  use,  which  I 
also  often  used,  that  our  hearts  should  be  sick  be- 
cause of  our  sins ;  but  I  had  never  used  her 
expression,  which  was  deeper.  She  is  the  fore- 
most among  the  women  to  take  part  in  meeting, 
often  b  eeching  them  with  tears  to  turn  into  the 
Christian  path. 


1 


i 


■  T) 


\.^-- 


XXXIII. 


LORD  JAMES   BALCH. 


A  FEW  years  previous  to  the  appointment  of 
■^^  Agent  Eells,  in  1871,  this  person  was  made 
head  chief  of  the  Clallams,  although,  until  about 
1873,  he  could  get  drunk  and  fight  as  well  as  any 
Indian.  At  that  time  he  took  the  lead  in  the 
progress  for  civilization  near  Dunginess,  as  related 
in  Chapter  V. ;  and,  although  once  after  that,  on  a 
Fourth  of  July,  he  was  drunk,  yet  he  has  steadily 
worked  for  the  good  of  his  tribe.  He  has  had  a 
noted  name,  for  an  Indian,  as  an  enemy  to  drunk- 
enness, and  his  fines  and  other  punishments  on 
his  offending  people  have  been  heavy.  He  gave 
more  than  any  other  one  in  the  purchase  of  their 
land,  and,  in  1875,  it  was  named  Jamestown  in 
honor  of  him.  He  has  taken  a  stand  against  pot- 
latches,  not  even  going  six  miles  to  attend  one 
when  given  by  those  under  him.  For  a  long  time 
he  was  firm  against  Indian  doctons,  though  a  few 
times  within  about  three  years  he  has  employed 

them  when  he  has  been  sick,  and  no  white  man's 

ai4 


I 


LORD  JAMES  BALCH. 


215 


ment  of 
as  made 
:il  about 
1  as  any 
I  in  the 
s  related 
hat,  on  a 

steadily 
as  had  a 
:o  drunk- 
nents  on 
lie  gave 

of  their 
stown  in 
linst  pot- 
:tcnd  one 
ong  time 
gh  a  few 
employed 
ite  man's 


remedies  which  he  could  obtain  seemed  to  do  him 
any  good.  He  was  among  the  first  three  Indians 
to  begin  prayer,  a  practice  which  he  kept  up 
several  years.  But  when  in  1878  the  other  two 
united  with  the  church,  Balch  declined  to  do  so, 
although  I  had  expected  him  as  much  as  I  had  the 
others.  He  gave  as  his  excuse  that  as  he  was  chief, 
he  would  probably  do  something  which  would  be 
used  as  an  argument  against  religion — an  idea  I 
have  found  quite  common  among  the  Indian 
officers.  In  fact,  a  policeman  once  asked  me  if 
he  could  be  a  policeman  and  a  Christian  at  the 
same  time.  Balch  said  that  whenever  he  should 
cease  being  chief,  he  would  "jump"  into  the 
church.  He  has  continued  as  chief  until  the 
present  time,  and  his  interest  in  religion  has 
diminished.  At  one  time  he  seemed,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  the  school-teacher,  to  trust  to  his  morality 
for  salvation.  Then  he  turned  to  the  Indian  doc- 
tors, gave  up  prayer  in  his  house,  and  now  by  no 
means  attends  church  regularly.  Still  he  takes  a 
kind  of  fatherly  interest  in  seeing  that  the  church 
members  walk  straight ;  and  the  way  in  which  he 
started  and  has  upheld  civilization,  morality,  edu- 
cation, and  temperance  will  long  be  remembered 
both  by  whites  and  Indians,  and  it5>  influence  will 
continue  long:  after  he  shall  die. 


XXXIV. 


TOURING. 


'S   m 


I    !\ 


ItT  7HITE  people  have  almost  universally  been 
'  *  very  kind  to  me,  the  Indians  generally  so, 
but  the  elements  have  often  been  adverse.  These 
have  given  variety  to  my  life  —  not  always  pleas- 
ant, but  sufficient  to  form  an  item  here  and  there  ; 
and  there  is  nearly  always  a  comical  side  to  most 
of  these  experiences,  if  we  can  but  see  it. 

One  day  in  February,  1 878,  I  started  from  Port 
Gamble  for  home  with  eight  canoes,  but  a  strong 
head-wind  arose.  The  Indians  worked  hard  for 
five  hours,  but  traveled  only  ten  miles  and  nearly 
all  gave  out,  and  we  camped  on  the  beach.  It 
rained  also,  and  the  wind  blew  still  stronger  so 
that  the  trees  were  c(  nstantly  falling  near  us.  I 
had  only  a  pair  of  blankets,  an  overcoat,  and  a 
mat  with  rne,  but  Iraving  obtained  another  mat  of 
the  Indians,  I  made  a  slight  .oof  over  nic  with  it 
and  went  to  sleep.  About  two  o'clock  in  the 
morniTig  I  was  aroused  by  the  Indians,  when  I 
learned    that    a    very  high    tide    had    come    and 


Uy  been 
rally  so, 
These 
's  pleas- 
d  there  ; 
to  most 

om  Port 
1  strong 
hard  for 
d  nearly 
;ach.  It 
jnger  so 
ir  us.  I 
t,  and  a 
r  mat  of 
with  it 
I  in  the 
,  when  I 
Dme    and 


TOURING. 


217 


drowned  them  out.  My  bed  was  on  higher 
ground  than  theirs,  but  in  fifteen  minutes  that 
ground  was  three  or  four  inches  under  water. 
We  waded  around,  wet  and  cold,  put  our  things 
in  the  c?noes  and  soon  started.  There  was  still 
some  rain  and  wind,  and  it  was  only  by  taking 
turns  in  rowing  that  we  could  keep  from  suffering. 
In  four  hours  we  were  at  Seabeck,  where  we  were 
made  comfortable,  but  that  was  a  cold,  long,  dark, 
wintry  morning  ride. 

I  started  from  Jamestown  for  Elkwa,  a  distance 
of  twenty-five  miles,  on  horseback,  but,  after  going 
ten  miles,  the  horse  became  so  lame  that  he  could 
go  no  farther.  I  could  not  well  procure  another, 
so  I  proceeded  on  foot.  Soon  I  reached  Morse 
Creek,  but  could  find  no  way  of  crossing.  The 
stream  was  quite  swift,  having  been  swollen  by 
recent  rains.  The  best  way  seemed  to  be  to  ford 
it.  So,  after  taking  off  some  of  my  clothes,  I 
started  in.  It  was  only  about  three  feet  deep,  but 
so  swift  that  it  was  difficult  to  stand,  and  cold  as 
a  mountain  stream  in  December  naturally  is.  But 
with  a  stick  to  feel  my  way,  I  crossed,  and  it  only 
remained  for  me  to  get  warm,  which  I  soon  did  by 
climbing  a  high  hill. 

Coming  from  Elkwa  on  another  trip  on  horse- 


2l8 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


back,  with  a  friend,  we  were  obliged  to  travel  on 
the  beach  for  eight  miles,  as  there  was  no. other 
rOad>  The  tide  was  quite  high,  the  wind  blowing, 
and  .  aves  came  in  very  roughly.  There  were 
many  t;  ;3  lying  on  the  beach,  around  which  we 
were  compelled  to  canter  as  fast  as  we  could  when 
the  waves  were  out.  But  one  time  my  friend,  who 
was  just  ahead,  passed  safely,  while  I  was  caught 
by  the  wave  which  came  up  to  my  side,  and  a  part 
of  which  went  over  my  head.  It  was  very  fortu- 
nate that  my  horse  was  not  carried  off  his  feet. 

Once  I  was  obliged  to  stay  in  one  of  their 
houses  in  the  winter,  a  thing  I  have  seldom  done, 
unless  there  is  no  white  man's  house  near,  even 
in  the  summer,  when  I  have  preferred  to  take  my 
blankets  and  sleep  outside.  The  Indians  have  said 
that  they  are  afraid  the  panthers  will  oat  me  ;  but 
between  the  fleas,  rats,  and  smoke  (for  they  often 
keep  their  old-fashioned  houses  full  of  smoke  all 
night),  sleep  is  not  refreshing,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing I  feel  more  like  a  piece  of  bacon  than  a 
minister. 

Traveling  in  February  with  about  scvonty-five 
Indians,  it  was  necessary  that  I  should  stay  all 
night  in  an  Indian  house  to  protect  them  from 
unprincipled  white  men.     The  Indians  at  the  vil- 


TOURING. 


219 


lage  where  we  stayed  were  as  kind  as  could  be, 
assigning  me  to  their  best  house,  where  there  was 
no  smoke ;  giving  me  a  feather-bed,  white  sheets, 
and  all  very  good  except  the  fleas.  Before  I  went 
to  sleep  I  killed  four,  in  two  or  three  hours  I 
waked  up  and  killed  fourteen,  at  three  o'clock 
eleven  more,  and  in  the  morning  I  left  without 
looking  to  see  how  many  there  were  remaining. 
But  Indian  houses  are  not  the  only  unpleasant 
ones.  Here  we  are  at  a  hotel,  the  best  in  a 
saw-mill  town  of  four  or  five  hundred  people ;  but 
the  bar-room  is  filled  with  tobacco-smoke,  almost 
as  thick  as  the  smoke  from  the  fires  which  often 
fills  an  Indian  house.  Here  about  fifty  men  spend 
a  great  portion  of  the  night,  and  some  of  them  all 
night,  in  drinking,  gambling,  and  smoking.  The 
house  is  accustomed  to  it,  for  the  rooms  directly 
over  the  bar-room  are  saturated  with  smoke,  and 
I  am  assigned  to  one  of  these  rooms.  Before  I 
get  to  sleep  the  smoke  has  so  filled  my  nostrils 
that  I  can  not  breathe  through  them,  and  at  mid- 
night I  wake  up  with  a  headache  so  severe  that  I 
can  scarcely  hold  up  my  head  for  the  next  twenty- 
four  hours.  It  is  not  so  bad,  however,  but  that  I 
can  do  a  little  thinking  on  this  wise  :  Who  are  the 
lowest  —  the  Indians,  or  these  whites  .-'  The  smoke 
is  of  equal  thickness  :  that  of  the  Indians,  hovv- 


1  ( 


220 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


ever,  is  clean  smoke  from  wood ;  that  of  the 
whites,  filthy  from  tobacco.  The  Indian  has  sense 
enough  to  make  holes  in  the  roof  where  some  of 
it  may  escape ;  the  white  man  does  not  even  do 
that  much.  The  Indian  sits  or  lies  near  the 
ground,  underneath  a  great  portion  of  it ;  the 
white  man  puts  a  portion  of  his  guests  and  his 
ladies*  parlor  directly  over  it.  Sleeping  in  the 
Indian  smoke  I  come  out  well,  although  feeling 
like  smoked  bacon,  and  a  thorough  wash  cures  it ; 
but  sleeping  in  that  of  the  white  man  I  come  out 
sick,  and  the  brain  has  to  be  washed. 

In  August,  1879,  with  my  wife  and  three  babies, 
and  three  Indians,  I  was  coming  home  from  a 
month's  tour  among  the  Clallams,  in  a  canoe.  One 
evening  from  five  o'clock  until  nine  the  rain 
poured  down,  as  it  sometimes  does  on  Puget 
Sound.  With  all  that  we  could  do  it  was  impos- 
sible to  keep  dry.  Oilcloth,  umbrellas,  and  blank- 
ets would  not  keep  the  rain  out  of  the  bottom  of 
the  canoe,  or  from  reaching  some  of  our  bedding. 
At  nine  o'clock  we  reached  an  old  deserted  house 
with  half  the  roof  off,  and  we  crawled  into  it. 
The  roof  was  off  where  the  fire-place  was  situated, 
so  we  tried  to  dry  ourselves,  keep  warm,  and  dry 
some  bedding,  while  holding  umbrellas  over  us,  in 
order  that  every  thing  should  not  get  wet  as  fast 


TOURING. 


221 


rain 


as  it  was  dried.  As  soon  as  a  few  clothes  got 
dry,  we  rolled  up  a  baby  and  he  was  soon  asleep ; 
and  so  on  for  three  hours  we  packed  one  after 
another  away,  until  I  was  the  only  one  left.  But 
the  rest  had  all  of  the  dry  bedding.  There  was 
one  pair  of  blankets  left,  and  they  were  soaked 
through.  I  knew  that  if  I  attempted  to  dry  them 
I  might  as  well  calculate  to  sit  up  until  morning. 
So  I  warmed  them  a  little,  got  close  to  the  warm 
places,  pulled  on  two  or  three  more  wet  things, 
pulled  up  a  box  on  one  side  to  help  keep  warm, 
leaned  up  my  head  slantingwise  against  a  perpen- 
dicular wall  for  a  pillow,  and  went  to  sleep.  Some 
writers  say  that  a  person  must  not  sleep  in  one 
position  all  night  ;  if  he  does  he  will  die.  I  did 
not  suffer  from  that  danger  during  that  night. 
The  next  morning  we  had  to  start  about  five 
o'clock  because  of  the  tide,  without  any  break- 
fast. When  about  eight  o'clock  we  reached  a 
farm-house,  and  warmed  up,  where  the  people 
spent  most  of  the  forenoon  getting  a  good  warm 
breakfast  for  us,  free  of  all  charges,  we  did  wish 
that  they  could  receive  the  blessing  forty  times 
over  mentioned  in  the  verse  about  the  cup  of 
cold  water,  for  it  was  worth  a  hundred  cups  of 
cold  water  that  morning.  No  one  of  us,  however, 
took  cold  on  that  ni-^ht. 


222 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


Only  once  have  I  ever  felt  that  there  was  much 
clanger  in  traveling  in  a  canoe.  I  was  coming 
from  Clallam  Bay  to  Jamestown  in  November, 
1883,  with  five  Indians.  We  left  Port  Angeles  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  last  day  with  a  good  wind, 
but  when  we  had  been  out  a  short  time  and  it 
wa  almost  dark,  a  low,  black  snow-squall  struck 
us.  There  was  no  safe  place  to  land,  and  we  went 
along  safely  until  vve  reached  the  Dunginess  Spit, 
which  is  six  miles  long.  There  is  a  good  harbor 
on  the  east  side  of  it  ;  but  we  were  on  the  west 
side,  and  the  Indians  said  that  it  was  not  safe  to 
attempt  to  go  around  it,  for  those  snow-squalls  are 
the  worst  storms  there  are,  and  the  heavy  waves 
at  the  point  would  upset  us.  It  was  better  to  run 
the  risk  of  breaking  our  canoe  while  landing  than 
to  run  the  risk  of  capsizing  in  those  boiling  waters. 
So  we  made  the  attempt,  but  could  not  see  how 
the  waves  were  coming  in  the  darkness,  and  after 
our  canoe  touched  the  beach,  but  before  we  could 
draw  it  up  to  a  place  of  safety,  another  wave 
struck  it,  and  split  it  for  nearly  its  whole  length. 
But  we  were  all  safe.  Fortunately  we  were  only 
seven  miles  from  Jamestown  ;  so  wc  took  our 
things  on  our  backs  and  walked  the  rest  of  the 
way,  all  of  us  very  thankful  that  we  were  not  at 
the  bottom  of  the  sea. 


XXXV. 


THE   BIBLE   AND   OTHER   BOOKS. 


!  I    i 


XTATURALLY  most  of  the  Indians  did  not 
-*-  ^  care  to  buy  Bibles  at  first.  They  were  fur- 
nished free  to  the  school-children,  and,  like  many 
other  things  that  cost  nothing,  were  not  very 
highly  prizeil,  nor  taken  care  of  half  as  well  as 
they  ought  to  have  been.  Still  they  learned  that 
it  was  the  sacred  Book  and  when  one  after  another 
left  school  most  of  them  possessed  a  Bible.  I  had 
not  been  here  long  when  an  Indian  bought  one, 
and,  having  had  the  family  record  of  a  white  friend 
of  his  written  in  it,  he  presented  it  to  the  man, 
who  had  none.  It  caused  some  comment  that  an 
Indian  should  be  giving  a  Bible  to  a  white  man. 
When  the  first  apprentices  received  their  first  pay, 
a  good  share  of  their  earnings  were  invested  in 
much  better  Bibles  than  they  had  previously  been 
able  to  buy. 

The  following  item  appeared  in  The  San  Fran- 
cisco Pacific  in  March,  1 880  :  —  . 


I  <: 


224 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


"LO,  THE  POOR   Indian! 

"  The  following  facts  speak  volumes.  Let  all 
read  them.  —  [Chaplain  Stubbs,  Oregon  Editor.] 

"During  1879  I  acted  as  agent  of  the  Bible 
Society  for  this  region.  The  sales  amounted  to 
over  twenty-two  dollars  to  the  Indians,  out  of  a 
total  of  thirty-two  dollars.  Of  the  seventy-five 
Bibles  and  Testaments  sold,  thirty-nine  were 
bought  by  them,  varying  in  price  from  five  cents  to 
three  dollars  and  thirty  cents.  These  facts,  with 
other  things,  show  that  there  is  some  literary  taste 
among  them.  Not  many  of  the  older  ones  can 
read,  hence  do  not  wish  for  books  ;  but  many  have 
adorned  their  houses  with  Bible  and  other  pictures, 
twenty  of  them  having  been  counted  in  one  house, 
nearly  all  of  which  virere  bought  with  their  money. 
In  the  house  of  a  newly  married  couple,  both  of 
whom  have  been  in  school,  are  twenty-seven  books, 
the  largest  being  a  royal  octavo  Bible,  reference, 
gilt.  The  Council  Fin:  is  taken  here.  In  a  room 
where  four  boys  stay,  part  of  whom  are  in  school, 
and  the  rest  of  whom  are  apprentices, — none  of 
them  being  over  seventeen  years  old,  —  will  be 
found  The  Port  Townsend  Argus  and  The  Seattle  In- 
telligencer. On  the  table  is  an  octavo  Bible,  for  the 
boys  have  prayers  every  evening  by  themselves. 


THE  BIBLE  AND   OTHER  BOOKS. 


225 


and  two  of  them  have  spent  about  five  dollars  each 
for  other  books,  "  Christ  in  Literature "  being 
among  them.  At  another  house  arc  three  young 
men  who  have  twenty  volumes.  One  of  them  has 
paid  twenty  dollars  for  what  he  has  bought ;  You- 
mans's  Dictionary  of  Every-day  Wants,  Webster's 
Unabridged,  Moody's  and  Punshon's  Sermons 
being  among  them.  He  was  never  in  school 
until  he  w.^s  about  twenty-two  years  old  and 
nine  months  will  probably  cover  all  the  schooling 
he  ever  had.  Here  will  be  found  The  Pacific.  In 
another  house  the  occupant  has  spent  about  fifty 
dollars  for  books,  and  his  library  numbers  thirty 
volumes.  Among  them  will  be  found  an  eighteen- 
dollar  family  Bible,  Chambers's  Information  for  the 
People,  "  Africa,"  by  Stanley,  Life  of  Lincoln,  and 
Meacham's  Wigwam  and  Warpath.  Here  also,  is 
The  Pacific,  The  West  Shore  Olympia  Coiirier,  The 
Council  Fire,  and  The  American  Missionary.  This 
man  never  went  to  school  but  two  or  three  week' , 
having  picked  up  the  rest  of  his  knowledge.  When 
Indians  spend  their  money  thus,  it  shows  that 
there  is  an  intellectual  capacity  in  them  that  can 
be  developed." 

It   has   been,  however,  and    still   is,  somewhat 
difficult  to  cultivate  in  many  of  them  a  taste  for 


\\ 


H 


■^-j 


a:. .» 


226 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


reading,  so  as  to  continue  to  use  it  when  older. 
This  is  not  because  of  a  want  of  intellectual 
capacity,  but  for  three  other  reasons.  First,  as 
soon  as  they  leave  school  and  go  back  among  the 
uneducated  Indiaiis,  there  is  no  stimulus  to  induce 
them  to  read.  The  natural  influence  is  the  other 
way,  to  cause  them  to  drop  their  books,  Second, 
like  white  people  who  remain  in  one  place  con- 
tinually, they  are  but  little  interested  in  what  is 
going  on  in  the  outside  world.  Third,  in  mos 
books  and  papers  there  are  just  enough  large  diffi- 
cult words  which  they  do  not  understand  to  spoil 
the  sense,  and  thus  the  interest  in  the  story  is 
destroyed.  Yet  notwithstanding  these  discourage- 
ments, the  present  success  together  with  the  pros- 
pect that  it  will  be  much  greater  in  the  future,  as 
more  of  them  become  educated,  is  such  as  to 
make  us  feel  that  it  pays. 


T 


T 


XXXVI. 

BIBLE  PICTURES. 

TT  is  very  plain  that  Indians  who  can  not  read, 
■■■  and  even  some  who  can  read,  b't  only  a  little, 
need  something  besides  the  Bible  to  help  them 
remember  it.  Were  white  people  to  hear  the 
Bible  explained  once  or  twice  a  week  only,  with  no 
opportunity  to  read  it,  they  would  be  very  slow 
to  acquire  its  truths.  It  hence  became  very  plain 
that  some  good  Scripture  illustrations  would  be 
very  valuable.  I  could  not,  however,  afford  to  give 
them  to  the  Indians,  nor  did  I  think  it  best,  as 
generally  that  which  costs  nothing  is  good  for 
nothing.  But  to  live  three  thousand  miles  from 
the  publishing-houses  and  find  what  was  wanted 
was  difficult,  for  it  was  necessary  that  they  should 
be  of  good  size,  attractive,  and  cheap.  For  eight 
years  I  failed  to  find  what  was  a  real  success. 
Fanciful  Bible-texts  are  abundant,  but  they  con- 
vey no  Bible  instruction  to  older  Indians.  Small 
Bible  pictures,  three  or  four  by  four  or  six  inches 
are  furnished  by  Nelson  &  Sons,  and  others,  but 


i\  ^i 


228 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


they  were  too  small  to  hang  over  the  walls  of 
their  houses  and  they  did  not  care  to  buy  them. 
I  often  put  them  into  my  pocket,  when  visiting, 
and  explained  them  to  the  Indians,  and  so  made 
them  quite  useful.  The  same  company  furnished 
larger  ones,  about  twelve  by  eighteen  inches, 
which  were  good  pictures.  The  retail  price  was 
fifty  cents.  I  obtained  them  by  the  quantity  at 
about  thirty-seven  cents  and  sold  them  for  twenty- 
five,  but  they  were  not  very  popular.  It  took  too 
much  money  to  make  much  of  a  show.  The 
Providence  Lithograph  Company  publish  large 
lithographs,  thirty  by  forty-four  inches,  for  the 
International  Sabbath-school  Lessons,  which  were 
somewhat  useful.  I  obtained  quite  a  number, 
second-hand,  at  half-price,  eight  for  a  dollar,  and 
often  used  them  as  the  text  of  my  pulpit  preach- 
ing, but  when  I  was  done  with  them  I  generally 
had  to  give  them  away.  They  were  colored  and 
showy  but  too  indefinite  to  be  attractive  enough 
to  the  Indians  to  induce  them  to  pay  even  that 
small  price  for  them. 

At  last  I  came  across  some  large  charts,  on 
rollers,  highly  colored,  published  by  Haasis  & 
Lubrecht,  of  New  York.  They  were  twenty-eight 
by  thirty-five  inches,  and  I  could   sell   them   for 


BIBLE  PICTURES. 


229 


twenty-five  cents  each,  and  they  were  very  popu- 
lar. They  went  like  hot  cakes  —  were  often 
wanted  faster  than  I  could  get  them,  although 
I  procured  from  twenty  to  forty  and  sometimes 
more  at  once,  Protestant  and  Catholic  Indians, 
Christians  and  medicine-men,  those  off  the  reser- 
vation and  on  other  reservations  as  well  as  at 
Skokomish,  were  equally  pleased  with  them,  so 
that  I  sold  four  hundred  and  fifty  in  twenty-one 
months.  They  were  large,  showy,  cheap,  and  good, 
care  being  used  not  to  obtain  some  purely  Catholic 
pictures  which  they  publish. 

"  The  Story  of  the  Bible,"  "  Story  of  the  Gospel," 
and  "  First  Steps  for  Little  Feet  in  Gospel  Paths," 
also  have  proved  very  useful  for  those  who  can 
read  a  little  but  can  not  understand  all  the  hard 
words  in  the  Bible.  Their  numerous  pictures  are 
attractive,  and  the  words  are  easy  to  be  under- 
stood. 


n 


in 


SI;  !S 


XXXVIL 

THE   SABBATH-SCHOOL. 

TI^ROM  the  first  a  Sabbath-school  has  been  held 
•■-  on  the  reservation.  Previous  to  the  time 
when  Agent  Eells  took  charge,  while  Mr.  D.  B. 
Ward  and  Mr.  W.  C.  Chattin  v/ere  the  school- 
teachers, they  '>vorkt'd  in  this  way  But  there  was 
no  Sabbath- scliool  in  the  region  which  the  Indians 
had  seen ;  the  white  Jnduerxes  on  the  reservation 
by  no  means  ran  parallel  with  their  efforts,  and  it 
was  hard  work  to  accomplish  a  little.  In  1871 
Agent  Eells  threw  all  his  influence  in  favor  of  it 
before  there  were  any  ministers  on  the  reservation 
or  any  other  Sabbath  service,  with  the  agent  as 
superintendent.  After  ministers  came,  it  was 
held  soon  after  the  close  of  the  morning  .service. 
The  school-children  and  whites  were  expected  to 
be  present,  as  far  as  was  reasonable,  and  the 
older  Indians  were  invited  and  urged  to  remain 
Sometimes  they  did  and  there  was  a  large  Bible 
class,  and  sometimes  none  stayed. 

A  striking  feature  of  the  school  has  been  tlie 

'm 


THE  SABBATH-SCHOOL. 


231 


effort  made  to  induce  the  children  to  learn  the 
lesson.  Sometimes  they  were  merely  urged  to, 
and  sometimes  the  agent  compelled  them  so  to 
do,  much  as  if  they  were  his  own  children.  Six 
verses  have  usually  been  a  lesson  —  sometimes  all 
of  them  being  new  ones,  and  sometimes  three 
being  in  advance  and  three  in  review.  Those 
who  committed  them  all  to  memory  were  placed 
on  the  roll  of  honor,  and  those  who  had  them  all 
perfectly  received  two  credit-marks ;  so  that  if 
there  were  no  interruption  on  any  Sabbath  in  the 
school,  104  was  the  highest  number  that  any  one 
could  obtain.  During  1875  tl  •  record  was  kept 
for  fifty  Sabbaths,  and  the  highest  numl)or  of 
marks  obtained  by  any  of  the  Indian  chiMren  was 
forty-eight,  by  Andrew  Peterson.  Eighty-eight 
were  obtained  by  each  of  two  white  children, 
Minnie  Lansdale  and  Lizzie  Ward.  Twenty  of 
the  Indian  children  were  on  the  roll  of  honor  some 
of  the  time.  During  1876  Miss  Martha  Palmer, 
an  Indian  girl,  received  eighty-six  marks  out  of  a 
possible  hundred.  The  next  highest  was  a  white 
girl,  then  a  half-breed  girl,  then  an  Indian  boy, 
and  th^''  a  white  boy.  During  1877  the  same 
Martha  Palmer  received  ninety-six  marks,  the 
highest  number  possible  that  year,  there  having 


2\2 


TEN   YEARS  Al'  SKOKOMISII. 


been  no  school  on  four  Sabbaths.  In  1878 
Martha  Palmer  and  Emily  Atkins  each  committed 
the  six  verses  to  memory  and  recited  them  per- 
fectly at  the  school  during  forty-nine  Sabbaths, 
there  having  been  no  school  on  three  Sabbaths. 
That  was  the  best  report  during  the  ten  years. 
The  higl;ost  number  in  1883  was  by  Annie  Sher- 
wood, but  the  number  of  credit-marks  was  only 
forty-eight. 

Sometimes  we  followed  the  simplest  part  of  the 
Bible  through  by  course  and  sometimes  used  the 
International  Lessons.  The  former  plan  was  in 
many  respects  better  for  the  scholars,  as  the 
International  Lessons  skipped  about  so  much  that 
the  children  often  lost  the  connection  ;  they  were 
sometimes  not  adapted  for  Indians,  and  the  chil- 
dren would  lose  the  quarterlies  or  their  lesson- 
papers.  The  latter  plan  was  for  some  reasons 
better  for  the  teachers,  as  they  could  get  helps  in 
the  quarterlies  to  understand  the  lesson  which 
they  could  not  well  get  elsewhere.  Sabbath- 
school  papers  with  a  Bible  picture  in  them  and  an 
explanation  of  it  were  valuable.  Such  at  last  I 
found  in  The  YoutJis  World  for  1883.  Once  a 
month,  while  I  had  them,  I  gave  the  papers  to  the 
teachers  the  Sabbath  previous  and  told  the  schol- 


THE  SABBATII-SCIIOOL. 


233 


ars  to  learn  a  few  verses  in  the  Bible  about  the 
picture.  Then  every  child  received  the  paper  on 
the  Sabbath,  and  the  story  was  explained. 

At  first  nearly  all  the  tec^chers  were  whites ;  but 
in  time,  as  the  whites  moved  away  and  the  young 
men  and  women  became  older  and  more  compe- 
tent, they  took  up  the  work.  About  half  of  the 
teachers  during  the  last  two  years  were  Indians. 
Agent  Eells  was  superintendent  of  the  school 
from  its  beginning  in  1871  until  1882,  when  his 
head-quarters  were  removed  to  another  reserva- 
tion, since  which  time  I  have  had  charge.  When 
the  agent  left  he  received  from  the  school  a  copy 
of  Ryle's  Commentary  on  John,  in  three  volumes, 
which  present  was  accompanied  by  some  very 
appropriate  remarks  by  Professor  A.  T.  Burnell, 
then  in  charge  of  the  school. 

"  Sanctify  them  through  thy  truth  :  thy  word  is 
truth,"  said  Christ,  and  we  found  this  to  be  true; 
the  committing  to  memory  of  so  many  verses 
produced  its  natural  effect.  The  seed  sown  grew. 
Eighteen  Indian  children  out  of  the  Sabbath- 
school  have  united  with  the  church. 

The  average  attendance  on  the  school  at  Skoko- 
mish  has  varied.  From  June,  1875,  to  June,  1876, 
it  was    eighty-five,   and    that   was    the    highest. 


0 


Ml 


\-^- 


234 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


From  June,  1881,  to  June,  1882,  it  was  forty- 
seven,  which  was  the  lowest.  The  dismissal  of 
employees  and  their  families  and  the  "dark 
days,"  of  which  mention  has  been  made,  caused 
a  decrease  for  a  time. 


XXXVIII. 


PRAYER-MEETINGS. 


A  NOTHER  of  the  first  meetings  established 
•^^-  on  the  reservation  under  the  new  policy  was 
the  pi'ayer-meeting  along  with  the  Sabbath-school. 
To  those  white  people  near  the  reservation  who 
cared  but  little  for  religion,  and  who  had  known 
the  previous  history  of  the  reservation,  a  prayer- 
meeting  on  a  reservation !  ah,  it  was  a  st'^ange 
thing,  but  they  afterward  acknowledged  that  it  was 
a  very  proper  thing  for  such  a  place.  That  regu- 
lar church  prayer-meeting  has  been  kept  up  from 
1 87 1  until  the  present  time,  varied  a  little  at  times 
to  suit  existing  circumstances.  The  employees 
and  school-children  were  the  principal  attendants, 
as  it  was  too  far  away  from  most  of  the  Indians 
for  them  to  come  in  the  evening.  But  few  of  the 
children  ever  took  part.  Too  many  wise  heads  of 
a  superior  race  frightened  them  even  if  they  had 
wished  to  do  so.  The  average  attendance  on  it 
has  varied  from  twenty-two  in  1875  to  thirty-eight 
in  1880.  Previous  to  1880,  it  ranged  below  thirty 
—  since  then  above  that  number. 


236 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


To  suit  the  wants  of  the  children  we  had  boys* 
prayer-meetings  and  girls'  prayer-meetings.  Some- 
times these  were  merely  talks  to  them,  and  some- 
times they  took  part.  In  the  summer  of  1875  the 
white  girls  first  made  a  request  to  have  one.  I 
had  been  to  our  Association  and  on  my  return  I 
reported  what  I  had  heard  of  a  children's  meeting 
at  Bellingham  Bay.  Two  of  the  girls  were  im- 
pressed with  the  idea  and  made  a  request  for  a 
similar  one.  Indian  girls  were  soon  invited  to 
come  and  more  or  less  took  part.  It  was  not  long 
before  from  its  members  some  came  into  the 
church.  For  a  long  time  my  mother  had  charge 
of  this.  She  died  in  1878,  after  which  my  wife 
took  charge.  The  white  girls  at  last  all  left  and 
only  Indian  girls  remained  in  it.  They  have  often 
taken  their  turn  in  leading  the  meeting. 

Although  for  two  or  three  years  I  had  asked  a 
few  boys  to  come  to  my  house  from  time  to  time 
to  teach  them  and  try  to  induce  them  to  pray,  yet 
they  never  did  any  thing  more  than  to  repeat  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  until  February,  1877.  Then  three 
boys  came  and  asked  for  instruction  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  soon  we  had  a  prayer-meeting  in  which 
all  took  part.  Previous  to  that  school-boys  had 
seemed  to  be  interested  in  religion,  but  when  they 


PR  A  YEK-MEETINGS. 


237 


became  older  and  mingled  more  with  the  older 
Indians  they  went  back  again  into  their  old  ways ; 
but  none  ever  went  as  far  as  these  did  then  — 
none  ever  prayed  where  a  white  person  heard  them 
or  asked  to  have  a  prayer-meeting  with  their  min- 
ister. During  that  summer  the  interest  increased 
and  it  grew  gradually  to  be  a  meeting  of  twenty 
with  a  dozen  sometimes  taking  part,  but  all  were 
not  Christians.  After  a  few  months  of  apparent 
Christian  life,  some  found  the  way  too  hard  for 
them  and  turned  back,  yet  a  number  of  them  came 
into  the  church. 

But  all  of  these  meetings  did  not  reach  the 
older  Indians.  They  were  too  far  away  to  attend, 
and,  had  they  .been  present,  the  meeting  was  in  an 
unknown  tongue.  So  in  the  summer  of  1875  I 
began  holding  meetings  at  their  logging-camps. 
They  were  welcomed  by  some,  while  with  some, 
especially  those  who  leaned  toward  the  Catholic 
religion  and  the  old  native  religion,  it  was  hard  work 
to  do  any  thing.  In  these  meetings  I  was  usually 
assisted  by  the  interpreter  John  Palmer.  At  our 
church  services  and  Sabbath-school  it  was  very 
difficult  to  induce  them  to  sing  or  to  say  any  thing. 
There  were  enough  white  folks  to  carry  them  and 
they  were  willing  to  be  carried.    At  our  first  meet- 


238 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SK'OKOMISII. 


ings  with  them  they  sang  and  talked  well,  but  pre- 
ferred to  wait  a  while  before  they  should  pray  in 
public.  They  did  not  know  what  to  say,  was  the 
excuse  they  gave.  On  reading  I  found  that  the 
natives  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  were  troubled  in 
the  same  way ;  and  I  remembered  that  the  disci- 
ples said :  "  Lord,  leach  us  how  to  pray,  as  John 
also  taught  his  disciples;"  so  vv?  offered  to  teach 
them  how,  for  they  professed  to  be  Christians. 
One  of  us  would  say  a  sentence  and  then  ask  one 
of  the  better  ones  to  repeat  it  afterward.  I 
remember  how  something  comical  struck  one  of 
the  Indians  during  one  of  these  prayers  and  he 
burst  out  laughing  in  the  midst  of  it.  Feeling 
that  a  very  short  prayer  would  be  the  best  proba- 
bly for  them  to  begin  with  alone,  I  recommended 
that  they  ask  a  blessing  at  their  meals.  This 
was  acceptable  to  some  of  them.  I  taught  them 
a  form,  and  they  did  so  for  that  fall  and  a  part  of 
the  winter.  I  once  asked  one  Indian  if  he  ever 
prayed.  His  reply  was  that  he  asked  a  blessing 
on  Sabbath  morning  at  his  breakfast.  That  was 
all,  and  he  seemed  to  think  that  it  was  enough. 
When  winter  came  the  logging-camps  closed 
and  they  went  to  their  homes.  They  were  too  far 
off  to  hold  evening  services  ;vith  them,  because  of 


PR  A  YEK-MEE  TINGS. 


239 


the  mud,  rain,  and  darkness,  and,  as  they  had  but 
little  to  do,  I  took  Tuesdays  for  meetings  with 
them.  About  the  first  of  December  we  induced 
four  of  them  to  pray  in  a  prayer-meeting  without 
any  assistance  from  us.  This  meeting  was  three 
hours  long.  It  seemed  as  if  a  good  beginning  had 
been  made,  but  Satan  did  not  propose  to  let  us 
have  the  victory  quite  so  easily.  In  less  than  a 
week  after  this  the  Indians  were  all  drawn  into  a 
tribal  sing  tamahnous,  and  all  of  these  praying 
Indians  took  some  part,  though  only  one  seemed 
to  be  the  leader  of  it.  That  was  the  end  of  his 
praying  for  years.  The  agent  told  him  that  he 
had  made  a  fool  of  himself  and  he  said  that  it  was 
true.  In  1883  he  was  among  the  first  to  join  the 
church  and  since  then  he  has  done  an  excellent 
work.  Still  I  kept  up  the  meeti  igs  during  the 
winter.  The  Indian,  however,  is  very  practical. 
His  ideas  of  spiritual  things  are  exceedingly  small. 
His  heaven  is  sensual  and  his  prayers  to  his 
tamahnous  are  for  life,  food,  clothes,  and  the  like. 
So  when  they  began  to  pray  to  God,  they  prayed 
much  for  these  things,  and  when  they  did  not 
obtain  all  for  which  they  asked,  they  grew  tired. 
Others  then  laughed  at  them  for  their  want  of 
success.     I  talked  of  perseverance  in  prayer. 


240 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII 


Not  long  after  this  the  trouble  ^rith  Billy  Clams 
and  his  wife,  as  already  related  under  the  head  of 
marriage,  occurred.  He  escaped  at  first,  but  others 
were  put  in  jail  for  aiding  him.  At  one  of  the 
first  meetings  after  this  trouble  began,  I  asked 
one  to  pray,  but  he  only  talked.  I  asked  another 
and  he  said  "  No,"  very  quickly,  and  there  was 
only  one  left.  Soon  after  this,  they  held  a  great 
meeting  to  petition  the  agent  to  release  the  pris- 
oners. The  only  praying  one  prayed  earnestly  that 
this  might  be  done.  The  petition  was  rightfully 
refused.  The  other  Indians  laughed  at  him  for 
his  failure,  and  that  stopped  his  praying  in  public 
for  a  long  time,  with  one  exception.  Once  after- 
ward we  held  a  meeting  with  them  and  after  some 
urging  a  few  took  part,  but  it  was  a  dying  affair. 
Notwithstanding  all  that  they  had  said  about  being 
Christians,  the  heart  was  not  there,  and  until  1883 
hardly  any  of  the  older  uneducated  Indians  prayed 
in  public  in  our  meetings.  Of  those  four,  one  left 
the  reservation  and  became  a  zealous  Catholic  ;  one 
has  apparently  improved  some ;  one  was  nearly 
ruined  by  getting  a  wife  with  whom  he  could  not 
get  along  for  a  time,  and  at  last  became  a  leader 
in  the  shaking  religion ;  and  one,  as  already  stated, 
has  done  very  well. 


PR  A  YER-MLETINGS. 


241 


The  next  summer,  1876,  I  visited  their  logging- 
camps  considerably,  and  was  well  received  by 
some,  while  others  treated  me  as  coldly  as  they 
dared,  doing  only  what  they  could  not  help  doing. 
But  they  did  not  take  as  much  part  in  the  meet- 
ings as  they  had  done  the  previous  summer,  talk- 
ing very  little  and  praying  none.  Their  outward 
progress  toward  religion  had  received  a  severe 
check.  As  has  been  the  case  with  some  other 
tribes,  Satan  would  not  give  up  without  a  hard 
struggle.  Like  some  of  the  disciples,  they  found 
the  gospel  a  hard  saying,  could  not  bear  it,  and 
went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  Christ. 

The  business  of  logging  was  overdone  for  sev- 
eral years,  and  during  that  time  I  was  not  able 
to  gather  them  together  much  for  social  meetings. 
I  worked  mainly  by  pastoral  visiting.  In  the 
winter  of  1881-82  some  of  them  went  to  the 
Chehalis  Reservation  and  attended  some  meetings 
held  by  the  Indians  there  and  were  considerably 
aroused.  They  again  asked  for  meetings  and  I 
held  them,  but  while  they  were  free  to  talk  and 
sing,  they  were  slow  to  pray.  Logging  revived, 
and  I  held  meetings  quite  constantly  with  them 
during  the  next  two  years. 

At  that  time  four  of  them  professed  to  take  a 


Si' 


242 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISIT. 


stand  for  Christ.  Gambling  was  a  besetting  sin  of 
some  of  them,  but  with  some  help  from  the  school- 
boys, who  had  now  grown  to  be  men,  they  passed 
through  the  Fourth  of  July  safely,  alth'^ugh  there 
was  considerable  of  it  on  the  grounds,  and  two  of 
them  were  strongly  urged  to  indulge.  The  other 
two  were  absent.  But  in  the  fall  there  was  a  big 
Indian  wedding  with  considerable  gambling  and 
horse-racing,  and  then  two  fell.  Another  did  a 
very  wrong  thing  in  another  way  and  was  put  in 
jail  for  it,  and  that  stopped  his  praying  for  a  time, 
though  he  has  since  begun  it  again.  The  other 
was  among  the  first  of  the  older  Indians  to  join 
the  church  in  1883,  and  he  has  done  a  firm  good 
work  for  us  since. 

In  other  camps  I  was  welcomed  also,  but  it  has 
ever  been  difficult  to  induce  them,  even  the  Chris- 
tians, to  pray  or  speak  much  in  public.  Those 
prayer-meetings  have  usually  been  what  I  have 
had  to  say.  Occasionally  they  speak  a  little  ;  but, 
not  being  able  to  read,  their  thoughts  run  in  a 
small  circle,  and  they  are  apt  to  say  the  same 
things  over  again,  and  they  tire  of  it  unless  some- 
thing special  occurs  to  arouse  them.  "  You 
speak,"  they  often  say  to  me,  when  I  have  asked 
then-'   to  say  something.     '•  You  know  something 


PR  A  VKK-MKETIN<JS. 


\ 

if 


243 


and  can  teach  us  ;  we  do  not  know  any  thing  and 
we  will  listen."  It  is  a  fact  that  what  we  obtain 
from  the  Bible  is  the  great  source  of  our  instruc- 
tion for  others ;  still  if  we  are  Christians  and 
know  only  a  little,  the  Spirit  sometimes  sanctifies 
that  even  in  a  very  ignorant  person  so  that  he  may 
do  some  good  with  it. 

The  Clallam  prayer  -  meetings  at  Jamestown 
have  been  different.  They  began  them  when  I 
visited  them  only  once  in  six  months,  hence  they 
had  to  take  part  or  give  them  up.  They  were  not 
willing  to  do  the  latter,  therefore  they  have  had  to 
do  the  former.  Sometimes  eight  or  ten  take  part. 
They  seem  to  expect  that  if  a  person  join  the 
church  he  will  take  part  in  the  prayer-meeting, 
and  the  children  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  of 
age  do  so  with  the  older  ones.  Thrown  on  their 
own  resources  in  this  respect,  as  well  as  in  others, 
it  has  had  its  advantages. 


XXXIX. 


INDIAN   HYMNS. 


/'"\UR  first  singing  was  in  English,  as  we  knew 
^-^  of  no  hymns  in  the  languages  which  the 
Indians  could  understand.  In  the  Sabbath-school 
prayer-meeting  and  partly  in  church  we  have  con- 
tinued to  use  them,  as  the  children  understand 
I£nglish,  and  it  is  best  to  train  them  to  use  the 
language  as  much  as  possible.  "  Pure  Gold  "  and 
the  Gospel  Hymns  and  Sacred  Songs,  as  used  by 
Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey,  have  been  in  use 
among  the  Indian  children  for  the  last  twelve 
years.  Two  or  three  of  the  simplest  English 
songs  which  repeat  considerably  have  also  been 
learned  by  many  of  the  older  Indians,  who  under- 
stand a  little  of  our  language,  as :  "  Come  to 
Jesus!"  and  "Say,  brothers,  will  you  meet  us.-*" 
Yet  all  these  did  not  reach  the  large  .share  of 
the  older  Indians  as  we  wished  to  reach  them. 
"What  are  you  doing  out  here  ?  "  "  Why  do  you 
not  go  to  Sabbath-school.?"  were  questions  which 
were  asked  one  Sabbath  by  the  wife  of  the  agent 

214 


INDIAN  HYMNS. 


245 


you 
'hich 


to  an  Indian  who  was  wandering  around  outside 
during  that  service.  His  reply  was  that  as  the 
first  part  of  the  exercises  and  the  singing  were  in 
English  they  were  very  dry  and  uninteresting  to 
him.  Only  when  the  time  came  for  singing  the 
Chinook  song  was  he  much  interested.  That  was 
in  1874,  and  there  was  only  one  such  song,  which 
the  agent  had  mpde  previous  to  my  coming;  but 
the  want  of  them,  as  expressed  by  that  Indian, 
compelled  us  to  mako  more.  The  first  efforts 
were  to  translate  some  of  our  simpler  hymns  into 
the  Chinook  language,  but  this  we  found  to  be 
impracticable,  with  one  or  two  exceptions.  The 
expressions,  syllables,  words,  and  accent  did  not 
agree  well  enough  for  it ;  so  we  made  up  some 
simple  sentiment,  repeated  it  two  or  three  times, 
fitted  it  to  one  of  our  tunes,  and  sang  it.  In  the 
course  of  time  we  had  eight  or  ten  Chinook  songs. 
They  repeated  considerably,  because  the  older 
Indians  could  not  read  and  had  to  learn  them 
from  hearing  them,  somewhat  after  the  principle 
of  the  negro  songs.  Major  W.  H.  Boyle  visited 
us  in  1876,  and  was  much  interested  in  this  sing- 
ing, lie  took  copies  of  the  songs  and  said  he 
would  see  if  he  could  not  have  them  printed  on 
the    government    press    belonging    to    the   War 


i 


\l& 


246 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


I    ^ 


Department,  at  Portland,  free  of  expense;  but  I 
presume  he  was  not  able  to  have  it  done,  as 
I  never  heard  of  them  again. 

In  my  visits  among  white  people  and  in  other 
Sabbath-schools  I  was  often  called  upon  to  sing 
them,  and  was  then  often  asked  for  a  copy;  so 
often  was  this  done  that  I  grew  tired  of  copying 
them.  Encouraged  by  this  demand  and  by  Major 
Boyle's  interest  in  them,  I  thought  I  would  see  if 
I  could  not  have  them  published.  I  wrote  to 
several  other  reservations,  asking  for  copies  of 
any  such  hymns  which  they  might  have,  hoping 
that  they  also  would  bear  a  share  of  the  expense 
of  publishing  them ;  but  I  found  that  most  of 
them  had  no  such  songs,  and,  to  my  surprise, 
some  seemed  to  have  no  desire  for  them.  So  I 
was  compelled  to  carry  on  the  little  affair  alone. 
I  was  unable  to  bear  the  expense,  but  fortunately 
then  Mr.  G.  H.  Himes,  of  Portland,  consented  to 
run  all  risks  of  printing  them,  and  so  in  1878  a 
little  pamphlet,  entitled  "  Hymns  in  the  Chinook 
Jargon  Language,"  was  printed,  and  it  has  been 
very  useful.  The  following,  from  its  introductory 
note,  may  be  of  interest :  — 

"These  hymns  have  grown  out  of  Christian 
work  among  the   Indians.  .  .  .  The   chief  pecu- 


INDIAN  HYMNS. 


247 


liarity  which  I  have  noticed  in  making  hymns  in 
this  language  is  that  a  large  proportion  of  the 
words  are  of  two  syllables,  and  a  large  majority 
of  these  have  the  accent  on  the  second  syllable, 
which  renders  it  almost  impossible  to  compose 
any  hymns  in   long,  common,  or   short   metres." 

The  following  remarks  were  made  about  it  by 
the  editor  of   The  American  Missionary :  — 

"  It  is  not  a  ponderous  volume  like  those  in  use 
in  our  American  churches,  with  twelve  or  fifteen 
hundred  hymns,  but  a  modest  pamphlet  of  thirty 
pages,  containing  both  the  Indian  originals  and 
the  English  translations.  The  tunes  include, 
among  others,  'Bounding  Billows,'  'John  Brown,* 
and  '  The  Hebrew  Children.'  The  hymns  are  very 
simple  and  often  repeat  all  but  the  first  line.  The 
translations  show  the  poverty  of  the  language  to 
convey  religious  ideas.  ...  It  is  no  little  task  to 
make  hymns  out  of  such  poor  materials.  Let  it 
be  understood  that  these  are  only  hymns  for  the 
transition  state  —  for  Indians  who  can  remember 
a  little  and  who  sing  in  English  as  soon  as  they 
have  learned  to  read.  This  little  book  is  a  monu- 
ment of  missionary  labor  and  full  of  suggestion 
as  to  the  manifold  difficulties  to  be  encountered 
in  the  attempt  to  Christianize  the  Indians  of 
America." 


248 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


Since  then  I  have  made  a  few  others  which 
have  never  been  printed,  one  of  which  is  here 
given.  The  cause  of  it  was  as  follows  :  One  day 
I  asked  an  Indian  what  he  thought  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  and  the  Bible.  His  reply  was  that  it 
was  good,  very  good,  for  the  white  man,  but  that 
the  Indian's  religion  was  the  best  for  him.  Hence 
in  this  hymn  I  tried  to  teach  them  that  the  Bible 
is  not  a  book  for  the  white  people  alone,  but  for 
the  whole  world  —  an  idea  which  is  now  quite 
generally  accepted  among  them.  In  all  we  now 
have  sixteen  hymns  in  Chinook,  five  in  Twana, 
five  in  Clallam,  and  two  in  Nisqually. 

Tune,  "  Hold  the  Fort." 

(i)     S^halie  Tyee,  ydka  p«Lpeh, 
Yika  Bible  kloshe, 
K6pa  k6noway  B6ston  tillikums 
Ydka  hias  kloshe. 

CHORUS. 

SAghalie  Tyee,  ydka  pipeh, 

Ydka  Bible  kloshe, 
K6pa  k6noway  tillikums  ^ta, 

Ydka  hias  kloshe. 

(2)     SAghalie  Tyee,  yAka  p^peh, 
Ydka  Bible  kloshe, 
K6pa  k6noway  Siwash  tillikums 
YAka  hias  kloshe. 


INDIAN  HYMNS.  249 

CHORUS. 
S^halie  Tyee,  etc. 

(3)     Sdghalie  Tyee,  ydka  pdpeh, 
Y^a  Bible  kloshe, 
K6pa  k6noway  King  George  tillikums 
Ydka  bias  kloshe.  —  Cho. 

TRANSLATION. 

(i)     God,  His  paper  — 

His  Bible  is  good; 
For  all  American  people 
It  is  very  good. 

CHORUS. 

God,  His  paper  — 

His  Bible  is  good ; 
For  all  people  now 

It  is  very  good. 

(2)  God,  His  paper  — 

His  Bible  is  good; 
For  all  Indian  people 
It  is  very  good. 

(3)  God,  His  paper  — 

His  Bible  is  good ; 
For  all  English  people 
It  is  very  good. 

By  changing  a  single  word  in  the  third  line  to 
Pa  sai  ooks  (French),  China,  Klale  man  (black 
men,  or  negroes),  we  had  other  verses. 


111 


250 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


In  time  I,  however,  became  satisfied  that  the 
Indians  would  be  better  pleased  if  they  could  sing 
a  few  songs  in  their  native  languages ;  but  it  was 
very  difficult  to  make  them,  as  I  could  not  talk 
their  languages,  and  so  could  not  revolve  a  sen- 
tence over  until  I  could  make  it  fit  a  tune.  The 
Indians,  on  the  other  hand,  were  too  young  or  too 
ignorant  of  music  to  adapt  the  words  properly  to 
it  for  many  years.  I  had,  however,  written  down 
about  eighteen  hundred  words  and  sentences  in 
each  of  the  Twana,  Clallam,  and  Squaxon  dialects 
of  the  Nisqually  language,  for  Major  J.  W. 
Powell  at  Washington,  and  could  understand  the 
Twana  Irnguage  a  very  little,  and  this  knowledge 
helped  me  greatly.  Some  of  the  older  school-boys 
became  interested  in  the  subject,  and  so  we 
worked  together.  After  some  attempts,  which 
were  failures,  we  were  able  in  i382  to  make  a  few 
hymns  which  have  become  quite  popular.  Some 
the  Indians  themselves  made,  and  some  they  and 
I  made.  The  following  samples  are  given  of  one 
in  each  language :  — 


TWANA. 

Tune,  "  Balerma." 

(i)     Se-se£d  hah-hAh  kleets  Badtl  Sowul-lilis! 
Se-seed  hah-hdh  sa-lay ! 


TNDFAN  HYMNS. 

Se-se6d  hah-hdh  kleets  Badtl  Sowul-l<is! 
Se-seed  hah-hdh  sa-ldy! 

(2)    O  kleets  Badtl  Wees  Sowul-liis, 
Bis  e-ldl  last  duh  tse-du-^tl 
A-hots  ts-kai-lubs  tay-tlla  e-du-4stl; 
Bis-6-shub-dilh  e  du-wiis ! 

TRANSLATION. 

Great  Holy  Father  God! 

Great  Holy  Spirit! 
Great  Holy  Father  God ! 

Great  Holy  Spirit! 

O  our  Father  God, 

We  cry  in  our  hearts 
For  the  sins  of  our  hearts ; 

Have  mercy  on  our  hearts! 


251 


CLALLAM. 
Tune,  "Come  to  Jesus  I" 

(1)  N  n4  a  Jesus 

A-chu-4-atl. 

(2)  Tse-ids  kwe  nang  un  tun 

A-chu-4-atl. 

(3)  E-yum-tsa  Jesus 

A-chu-4-atl. 

(4)  E-4-as  h6-y 

A-chu-4-atl. 


252 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


TRANSLATION. 

(i)    Come  to  Jesus 
Now. 

(2)  He  will  help  you 

Now. 

(3)  He  is  strong 

Now. 

(4)  He  is  ready 

Now. 

SQUAXON   DIALECT  OF   THE  NISQUALLY. 
Tune,  "  Jesus  lores  me." 

The  following  is   a  translation   of    our  hymn, 

"Jesus  loves  me,  this  I  know,"  so  literally  that  it 

can  be  sung  in  both  languages  at  the  same  time. 

The  other  two  verses  have  also   been  likewise 

^ranslated. 

(i)    Jesus  hatl  tobsh,  al  kwus  us  hai-tuh, 
Gwutl  te  Bible  siats  ub  tobsh : 
Way-so-buk  as-tai-ad  seetl, 
Hwak  us  wil  luhs  gwulluh  seetl  as  wil  luhl. 

CHORUS. 

A  Jesus  hatl  tobsh, 

Gwutl  ti  Bible  siats  ub  tobsh. 

(2)    Jesus  hatl  tobsh,  tsatl  to  At-to-bud 
Guk-ud  ^hugkls  ak  hak  doh  shuk, 
Tsatl  tloh  tsa-gwud  buk  dzas  dzuk 
Be  kwed  kwus  cha-chushs  atl  tu-us  da. 


INDIAN  HYMNS. 


253 


As  an  illustration  of  the  difficulty  I  had,  the 
following  is  given.  I  wished  to  obtain  the  chorus 
to  the  hymn,  "  I  'm  going  home,"  and  obtained  the 
expression,  "  I  will  go  home,"  in  Clallam,  in  the 
following  seven  different  ways.  The  last  one  was 
the  only  one  that  would  fit  the  music. 

0-is-si-ai-a  tsa-an-toki»". 
Ku-kwa-chin-is-hi-a  tokh". 
Ho-hi-a-tsan-u-tok-h". 
Tsa-a-ting-tsin-no-tokhu. 

U-tsa-it-tokh". 
U-its-tla-hutl  tok-J»u. 
To-k6-tsa-un. 

As  a  literary  curiosity  I  found  that  the  old 
hymn,  "  Where,  oh,  where  is  good  old  Noah  "i  "  to 
the  tune  of  "  The  Hebrew  Children,"  could  be 
sung  in  four  languages  at  the  same  time,  and  this 
was  the  only  English  hymn  that  I  was  ever  able 

to  translate  into  Chinook  jargon,  thus  :  — 

# 

Chinook  Jargon.  —  Kah,  O  kah  mit-lite  Noah  Alta? 
Twana.  —  Di-chdd,  di  chAd  kA-o  way  klits  Noah? 
Clallam.  —  A-hln-kwa,  a  hln  chees  wi-i-a  Noah? 
Far  off  in  the  promised  land. 


CHORUS. 

By-and-by  we  'II  go  home  to  meet  them. 


254 


TEN   YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


Chinook  Jargon.  —  Alki  nesika  klatawa  ndnitch. 
Twana.  —  At-so-i-at-so-i  hoi  klia-hA-dab  sub-la-bad. 
Clallam.  —  I-d  che  hdtl  sche-tiing-a-whun. 

LITERAL  TRANSLATION. 

Chinook  Jargon.  —  Where,  oh,  where,  i."  Noah  now? 
Twana.  —  Where,  oh,  where,  is  Noah? 
Clallam.  — Where,  oh,  where,  is  Noah  now? 
Far  off  in  the  promise''  land. 

CHORUS. 

By-and-by  we  '11  go  home  to  meet  them. 

Chinook.  —  Soon  we  will  go  and  see  [him] . 
Twana.  —  Soon  we  will  go  and  see  him. 
Clallam.  —  Far  off  in  the  good  land. 

These  sentences  can  be  mixed  up  in  these  lan- 
guages in  any  way,  make  good  sense,  and  mean 
almost  precisely  the  same.  I  found  no  other 
hymn  in  which  I  could  do  likewise,  but  the  chorus 
to  "  I  'm  going  home  "  can  be  rendered  similarly 
in  the  English,  Twana,  and  Clallam. 

Clallams  are  much  more  natural  singers  than 
the  Twanas.  For  this  reason,  and  also  because 
there  have  never  been  enough  whites  in  church  to 
do  the  singing  for  them,  there  has  never  been  any 
difficulty  in  inducing  them  to  sing  in  church.  But 
for  very   many  years   it   was   different  with  the 


INDIAN  HYMNS. 


255 


Twanas.  When  the  services  were  first  begun 
among  them  the  singing  was  in  English  and  they 
were  not  expected  to  take  part  in  it.  When 
hymns  were  first  made  in  the  Chinook  jargon 
there  were  so  many  whites  to  sing  in  church,  that 
the  Indians  did  not  seem  to  take  hold.  They 
would  sing  well  enough  at  their  camps,  the  boys 
would  sing  loud  enough  when  alone  at  the 
boarding-house  or  outdoors,  but  when  they  came 
to  church  they  were  almost  mum.  The  whites 
and  the  school-girls  did  most  of  it.  It  is  only 
within  the  past  year  or  two  that  a  perceptible 
change  has  been  made  for  the  better. 


XL. 


NATIVE  MINISTRY  AND  SUPPORT. 

"OUT  little  has  been  done  in  these  respects 
-■-^  except  to  sow  the  seed,  but  if  the  work  shall 
continue  another  ten  years  I  trust  that  more  will 
be  accomplished.  Since  I  have  been  here  I  have 
worked  with  the  idea  that  in  time  the  Indians 
ought  to  furnish  their  own  ministers  and  support 
them.  It  will,  however,  naturally  take  more  time 
to  raise  up  a  native  ministry  than  a  native  church, 
native  Christian  teachers  than  native  Christian 
scholars.  These  must  come  from  our  schools  after 
long  years  of  training.  Owing  to  a  lack  of  early 
moral  training  among  them,  —  the  want  of  a  foun- 
dation, —  the  words  of  Paul  on  this  subject  have 
appeared  to  me  to  have  a  striking  significance, 
more  so  than  among  whites,  although  they  are 
true  even  among  them  :  "  Not  a  novice,  lest  being 
lifted  up  with  pride  he  fall  into  the  condemnation 
of  the  devil." 

All  people  are  tempted  to  be  proud,  but  owing 

to  this  lack  of  foundation,  Indians  are  peculiarly 

'm 


! 


NATIVE  MINISTRY  AND  SUPPORT. 


257 


SO.  A  little  knowledge  puffeth  up,  and,  to  use  a 
common  expression,  .hey  soon  get  the  "big-head." 
That  spoils  them  for  the  ministry.  My  first  hope 
of  this  kind  was  that  John  Palmer  would  turn  his 
attention  to  the  subject,  but  he  had  a  family  be- 
fore I  knew  him,  and  I  never  could  induce  him  to 
look  much  in  that  direction.  In  the  spring  of 
1882  two  young  men  who  had  been  in  school  from 
childhood  took  hold  well.  They  began  to  talk 
with  the  Indians,  to  assist  me  in  holding  meetings, 
and  to  take  charge  of  them  in  my  absence.  I  felt 
that  they  were  too  young, — less  than  twenty-one, 
—  and  yet  at  times  I  could  see  no  other  way  to  do ; 
but  I  had  reason  to  fear  that  both  felt  proud  of 
th'ir  position.  During  the  next  summer  one  of 
them,  in  getting  married,  fell  so  low  that  we  had 
to  suspend  him  from  the  church  for  almost  a  year, 
and  the  other  for  a  time  went  slowly  backward. 
Both  have  come  up  again  considerably,  and  the 
latter  has  done  quite  well  for  the  last  year  in 
holding  lay-meetings.  I  pray  "the  Lord  of  the 
haivest,  that  he  will  send  forth  laborers  into  his 
harvest." 

As  to  the  support  of  the  ministry,  I  always  felt 
a  delicacy  in  speaking  of  the  subject,  because  I 
was  the  minister.     For  several  years,  as  long  as 


258 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISII. 


very  few  of  the  older  Indians  were  members  of 
the  church,  and  the  ones  who  were  members  were 
scholars  without  money,  it  was  difficult  to  -say 
much.  As  soon  as  some  of  the  school-boys  were 
put  to  work  as  apprentices,  I  broached  the  subject 
to  them,  talked  about  it,  and  gave  them  something 
to  read  on  it.  While  they  were  apprentices  and 
employees  most  of  them  gave  fairly.  The  agent 
urged  them  to  do  so,  but  compelled  none,  and  a 
few  refused  entirely.  But  when  they  ViiX.  the  gov- 
ernment employ  and  the  agent  moved  away,  they 
stopped  doing  what  they  had  never  liked  to  do. 

The  older  Indians,  when  they  did  come  into  the 
church,  were  hardly  prepared  for  it.  The  Catholic 
set  said  that  if  the  people  joined  them  they  would 
have  nothing  to  pay.  One  of  the  Catholics  told 
me  that  the  only  reason  why  I  wanted  to  get  him 
into  the  church  was  to  obtain  his  money.  It  had 
been  revealed  to  them  that  it  was  wrong  to  sell 
Go<rs  truth.  These  arguments,  somewhat  .similar 
to  those  used  years  ago  by  some  of  the  more  igno- 
rant people  in  the  Southern  and  Western  States, 
coupled  with  the  natural  love  of  money,  has  made 
it  very  difficult  to  induce  even  the  members  of 
the  church  to  contribute  for  the  .support  of  their 
pastor.     One  of  them   once    almost   found  fault 


NATIVE  MINISTRY  AND  SUPPORT. 


259 


with  me  for  taking  the  money  contributed  at  a 
collection  by  whites  at  Seabeck,  where  I  often 
preached,  and  he  thought  I  ought  not  to  do  so. 

The  Indians  at  Jamestown  have  done  somewhat 
differently.  In  their  region,  when  there  has  been 
preaching  by  the  whites,  generally  a  collection  is 
taken.  Noticing  this,  of  their  own  accord,  in  1882 
when  I  went  to  them,  they  passed  around  the  hat 
and  took  up  a  collection  of  three  dollars  and  forty- 
five  cents,  and  they  have  sometimes  done  so  since. 


I 


XLI. 

TOBACCO. 

'THHE  use  of  tobacco  is  not  as  excessive  among 
"*■  the  Tvvanas  as  among  many  Indians  —  not 
as  much  so  as  among  the  Clallams.  Seldom  is  one 
seen  smoking  or  chewing,  though  a  large  share  of 
the  Indians  use  it  a  little.  Yet  not  much  of  a 
direct  war  has  been  waged  against  it.  There  have 
been  so  many  greater  evils  against  which  it  seemed 
necessary  to  contend  that  I  hardly  thought  it 
wise  to  speak  much  in  public  against  it.  Still  a 
quiet  influence  has  been  exerted  against  it.  The 
agent  never  uses  it,  and  very  few  of  the  employees 
have  done  so.  This  example  has  done  something. 
The  following  incident  shows  the  ideas  some  of 
them  have  obtained.  About  1876  the  school- 
teacher heard  something  going  on  in  the  boys' 
room.  He  quietly  went  to  the  key-hole  and  list- 
ened to  see  if  any  mischief  were  brewing.  The 
result  was  different  from  what  he  had  feared.  The 
boys  were  holding  a  court.     They  had  their  judge 

and  jury,  witnesses  and  lawyers.     The  culprit  was 

atio 


TOBACCO. 


261 


charged  with  the  crime  of  being  drunk.  After  the 
prosecution  had  rested  the  case,  the  criminal  arose 
and  said  abou.  as  follows :  "  May  it  please  your 
honor,  I  am  a  poor  man  and  not  able  to  pay  a  law- 
yer, so  I  shall  have  to  defend  myself.  There  is  a 
little  mistake  about  this  case.  My  name  is  Cap- 
tain Chase  [a  white  man  of  the  region].  I  came 
to  church  on  Sunday ;  the  minister  did  not  know 
me.  I  was  well  dressed,  and  the  minister  mistook 
me  for  another  minister.  So  when  he  was  done, 
he  asked  me  to  say  a  few  words  to  the  Indians.  I 
was  in  a  fix,  for  I  had  a  large  quid  of  tobacco  in 
my  mouth.  I  tried  to  excuse  myself,  but  the  min- 
ister would  not  take  no  for  an  answer.  So  at  last 
I  quietly  and  secretly  took  out  the  tobacco  from 
my  mouth  [suiting  his  words  with  a  very  apt  illus- 
tration of  how  it  was  done],  threw  it  behind  the 
seat,  and  went  up  on  the  platform  to  speak.  But 
1  was  not  sharp  enough  for  the  Indians.  Some  of 
them  saw  me  throw  it  away,  and  they  thought  a 
minister  Jiad  no  business  tvith  tobacco,  and  that  is 
why  I  am  here  ;  besides  I  was  a  little  tipsy."  I 
have  enjoyed  telling  this  story  to  one  or  two 
tobacco-using  ministers. 

Somewhat  later  a  rather  wild  boy  wrote  me, 
asking  me  tc  allow  him  to  enter  the  praymg  band 
of  Indian  boys.     He  promised  to  give  up  his  bad 


262 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


habits ;  and  among  others  he  mentioned  the  use  of 
tobacco,  which  he  said  he  would  abandon. 

Within  the  past  year  a  number  of  the  older 
Indians  have  abandoned  its  use.  I  have  a  cigar 
which  was  given  me  by  one  man.  He  said  that 
when  he  determined  to  stop  its  use,  he  had  a  small 
piece  of  tobacco  and  two  cigars,  and  that  for 
months  afterward  they  lay  in  his  house  where  they 
were  at  that  time,  and  he  gave  me  one  of  them. 
Most  of  those  who  stopped  using  it  belonged  to 
the  shaking  set.  It  was  one  of  the  few  good 
things  which  resulted  from  that  strange  affair. 
But  they  have  been  earnestly  encouraged  to  con- 
tinue as  they  have  begun  in  this  respect. 

A  white  man  who  has  an  Indian  woman  for  a 
wife  told  me  the  following.  For  years  both  he 
and  his  wife  used  tobacco,  himself  both  chewing 
and  smoking.  When  she  professed  to  become  a 
Christian,  she  gave  up  her  tobacco  and  tried  to 
induce  him  to  do  the  same,  and  at  last  he  did  so 
far  yield  as  to  stop  smoking  ;  but  he  continued  to 
chew.  All  her  talk  did  not  stop  him.  But  he  saw 
that  when  he  had  spit  on  the  floor  and  stove,  she 
would  get  a  paper  or  rag  and  wipe  it  up,  and  hence 
he  grew  ashamed  and  stopped  chewing  in  the 
house,  using  only  a  little  —  when  he  told  me  —  in 
the  woods  when  at  work. 


XLII. 


SPICE. 


A  N  experience  which  is  not  very  pleasant 
■^^-  comes  from  the  vermin,  especially  the  fleas 
—  not  a  refined  word ;  but  the  most  refined 
society  gets  accustomed  to  it  here  because  they 
tiave  to  do  so,  and  the  more  so  the  nearer  they  get 
to  the  native  land  of  these  animals  —  the  Indians. 
I  stood  one  evening  and  preached  in  one  of  their 
houses  when  I  am  satisfied  that  I  scratched  every 
half-minute  during  the  service ;  for,  although  I 
stood  them  as  long  as  I  could,  I  could  not  help  it. 
I  would  quietly  take  up  one  foot  and  rub  it  against 
the  other,  put  my  hand  behind  my  back  or  in  my 
pocket,  and  treat  the  creatures  as  gently  as  I 
could,  and  the  like,  so  as  not  to  attract  any  more 
attention  than  possible. 

But  then  Indian  houses  are  not  their  only  dwell- 
ings. At  one  place  I  once  stayed  at  a  white  man's 
house,  who  was  as  kind  as  he  knew  how  to  be :  but 
backing  for  twenty  years  with  very  few  neighbors 
except  Indians  is  not  very  elevating ;  it  is  one  of 


264 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


the  trials  of  the  hardy  frontiersman.  I  tried  to 
go  to  sleep  —  on.^  bit ;  I  kicked  —  he  stopped ;  I 
shut  my  eyes —another  wanted  his  supper;  I 
scratched ;  and  so  we  kept  up  the  interminable 
warfare  until  three  o'clock,  when  sleep  conquered 
for  two  hours.  The  next  day,  on  the  strength  of 
it,  I  preached  twice,  held  a  council,  tramped  five 
miles,  and  talked  the  rest  of  the  time.  That 
night  mine  host,  having  suspected  something,  pro* 
posed  that  we  take  our  blankets  and  go  to  the 
bam.  I  was  willing,  and  we  all  slept  soundly ; 
but  the  hay  was  a  year  old,  and  in  that  region 
sometimes  innumerable  small  hay-lice  get  on  it  — 
a  fact  of  which  I  was  not  aware.  They  did  not 
trouble  us  during  the  night ;  but  when  we  arose 
the  next  morning  our  clothes,  which  had  lain  on 
the  hay,  were  covered  with  thousands  of  them. 
Every  seam,  torn  place,  button-hole,  and  turned- 
over  place  was  crowded  with  the  lilliputians.  It 
took  me  three  quarters  of  an  hour  to  brush  them 
from  my  clothes.  However,  it  did  not  hurt  the 
clothes  or  me.  My  better  two-thirds  would  have 
said  that  they  needed  brushing. 

Twice  while  traveling  to  Jamestown  have  I 
been  obliged,  when  within  twenty  miles  of  the 
place,  to  stop  all  day  Saturday  because  of  heavy 


SPICE. 


265 


head-winds,  when  I  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  be 
at  Jamestown  over  the  Sabbath.  That  day  was 
consequently  spent  not  where  I  wished  to  be.  It 
seemed  to  me  to  be  a  strange  Providence ;  but  I 
have  since  been  inclined  to  believe  that  my  exam- 
ple in  not  traveling  on  the  Sabbath,  when  the 
Indians  knew  how  anxious  I  was  to  reach  the 
place,  was  worth  more  than  the  sermons  I  would 
have  preached. 

The  following  appeared  in  The  Child's  Paper  in 
January,  1878 :  — 

"  In  the  school  on  the  Indian  reservation  where 
I  live  twenty-five  or  thirty  Indian  children  are 
taught  the  English  language.  At  one  time  a  new 
boy  came  who  knew  how  to  talk  our  language 
somewhat  but  not  very  well.  Soon  after  he  came 
he  was  at  work  with  the  other  boys  and  the 
teacher,  when,  in  pronouncing  one  English  word, 
he  did  not  pronounce  it  aright.  He  was  corrected 
but  still  did  not  say  it  right.  Again  he  was  told 
how,  but  still  it  seemed  as  if  his  tongue  were  too 
thick ;  and  again,  but  he  did  not  get  the  right 
twist  to  it.  At  last  one  of  the  scholars  thought 
that  he  was  doing  it  only  for  fun  and  that  he  could 
pronounce  it  correctly  if  he  only  Avould  do  so,  so 
he  said :  '  O  boys,  it  is  not  because  his  tongue  is 
crooked  but  because  his  ears  are  crooked  ! ' " 


266 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH, 


Query:  Are  there  not  some  others  who  have 
crooked  ears? 

What  does  Paul  say  ?  "  Five  times  received  I 
forty  stripes  save  one."  Well,  I  have  never  been 
treated  so,  for  the  people  are  as  kind  as  can  be. 
"  Shipwrecked "  ?  No,  only  cast  twice  on  the 
beach  by  winds  from  a  canoe.  "  A  night  and  a 
day  in  the  deep  "  ?  No,  only  a  whole  night  and  a 
part  of  several  others  on  the  mud-flats,  waiting  for 
the  tide  to  come.  No  danger  of  drowning  there. 
So  I  have  determined  to  take  more  of  such  spice 
if  it  shall  come. 


ii 


have 


ed  I 
been 
I  be. 
the 
nd  a 
nd  a 
gfor 
here, 
spice 


XLIII. 

CURRANT  JELLY. 

'  I  "HERE  is,  however,  another  side  to  the  pic- 
•*•  ture,  more  like  currant  jelly.  The  people 
generally  are  as  kind  as  they  can  be.  •'  We  will 
give  you  the  best  we  have,"  is  what  is  often  told 
me,  and  they  do  it.  Here  is  a  house  near  James- 
town, where  I  have  stopped  a  week  at  a  time,  or 
nearly  that,  once  in  six  months  for  about  six  years, 
and  the  people  will  take  nothing  for  it.  For 
seventy-five  miles  west  of  Dunginess  is  a  region 
where  a  man's  company  is  supposed  to  pay  for  his 
lodgings  at  any  house.  I  meet  a  man,  who  offers 
to  go  home,  a  half  a  mile,  and  get  me  a  dinner,  if 
I  will  only  accept  it.  A  girl,  with  whose  family  I 
was  only  slightly  acquainted,  stood  on  the  porch 
one  day  as  I  passed,  and  said  :  "  Mister,  have  you 
been  to  dinner }  You  had  better  stop  and  have 
some."  A  hotel-keeper,  who  had  sold  whiskey 
for  fifteen  years,  put  me  in  his  best  room,  one 
which  he  had  fitted  up  for  his  own  private  use, 
and  then  would  take  nothing  for  it.     The  Super- 

267 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I.I 


^m  m 

i^  nm  12.2 


m 


2.0 


1.8 


1.25      1.4      1 6 

6" 

► 

Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14580 

(716)  872-4503 


% 


1^ 


268 


TEN  YEARS  AT  SKOKOMISH. 


intendent  of  the  Seabeck  Mills,  Mr.  R.  Holyoke, 
invited  me  to  go  to  his  house  whenever  I  was  in 
the  place,  and  would  never  take  any  thing  for  it. 
It  amounted  to  about  four  weeks'  time  each  year 
for  five  or  six  years,  and  yet  he  would  hardly  allow 
me  tc  thank  him.  Others,  too,  at  the  same  place, 
have  been  very  kind.  The  steamer  St.  Patrick 
for  two  years  and  a  half  always  carried  myself  and 
family  free,  whenever  we  wished  to  travel  on  it, 
and  during  that  time  it  gave  us  sixty  or  seventy- 
five  dollars'  worth  of  fare.  Captain  J.  G.  Baker, 
of  the  Colfax,  said  to  me,  six  or  seven  years  ago : 
"  Whenever  you  or  your  family,  or  an  Indian  whom 
you  have  with  you  to  carry  you,  wish  to  travel 
where  I  am  going,  I  will  take  you  free."  He  has 
often  done  it,  sometimes  making  extra  effort  with 
his  steamer  in  order  to  accommodate  me.  The 
steamers  Gem  and  McNaught  also  made  a  rule  to 
charge  me  no  fare  when  I  traveled  on  them. 

Indians,  too,  are  not  wholly  devoid  of  gratitude. 
It  is  the  time  of  a  funeral.  They  are  often  accus- 
tomed at  such  times  to  make  presents  to  their 
friends  who  attend  and  sympathize  with  them. 
"Take  this  money,"  they  have  often  said  to  me  at 
such  times,  as  they  have  given  me  from  one  to 
three  dollars.    "  Do  not  refuse  —  it  is  our  custom ; 


CURRANT  JELLY. 


269 


for  you  have  come  to  comfort  us  with  Christ's 
words."  At  a  great  festival,  where  I  was  present 
to  protect  them  from  drunkenness,  and  other  evils 
equally  bad,  they  handed  me  seven  dollars  and  a 
half,  saying,  "  You  have  come  a  long  distance  to 
help  us  ;  we  can  not  give  you  food  as  we  do  these 
Indians,  as  you  do  not  eat  with  us ;  take  this 
money,  it  will  help  to  pay  your  board."  But  when 
"  I  offered  to  pay  the  gentleman  with  whom  I  v/as 
staying,  Mr.  B.  G.  Hotchkiss,  he  too  would  take 
nothing  for  the  board.  The  good  people  of  the 
Pearl  Street  Church  in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  sent 
us  a  barrel  of  things  in  the  early  spring  of  1883, 
whose  money  value  I  estimated  at  considerably 
over  a  hundred  dollars,  and  whose  good  cheer  was 
inestimable  in  money,  because  it  came  when  our 
days  were  the  darkest. 

God  has  been  very  good  to  put  it  into  the  hearts 
of  so  many  people  to  be  so  kind,  and  not  the  least 
good  thing  that  he  has  done  is  that  he  has  put 
that  verse  in  the  Bible  about  the  giving  a  cup  of 
cold  water  and  the  reward  that  will  follow. 


XLIV. 


CONCLUSION. 


* 


T^R.  H.  J.  MINTHORNE,  superintendent  of 
^-^  the  Indian  Training  School  at  Forest  Grove, 
Oregon,  once  remarked  to  me,  "that,  in  the  civil- 
ization of  Indians,  they  often  went  forward  and 
then  backward  ;  but  that  each  time  they  went 
backward  it  was  not  quite  so  far  as  the  previous 
time,  and  that  each  time  they  went  forward  it  was 
an  advance  on  any  previous  effort."  I  have  found 
the  same  to  be  true.  They  seem  to  rise  much  as 
the  tide  does  when  the  waves  are  rolling — a  surge 
upward  and  then  back ;  but  careful  observation 
shows  that  the  tide  is  rising. 

There  is  much  of  human  nature  in  them.  In 
many  respects  —  as  in  their  habits  of  neatness  and 
industry,  their  visions,  superstitions,  and  the  like  — 
I  have  often  been  reminded  of  what  I  have  read 
about  ignorant  whites  in  the  Southern  and  West- 
ern States  fifty  years  ago,  and  of  what  I  have  seen 
among  the  same  class  of  people  in  Oregon  thirty 
years  ago. 

270 


CONCLUSION. 


271 


<    ■-»' 


Soon  after  I  came  here,  an  old  missionary  said 
to  me :  "  Keep  on  with  the  work ;  the  fruits  of 
Christian  labor  among  the  Indians  have  been  as 
great  or  greater  than  among  the  whites."  I  have 
found  it  to  be  in  some  measure  true.  Something 
has,  I  trust,  been  done ;  but  the  Bible  and  expe- 
rience both  agree  in  sayiiig  that  "  God  has  done  it 
all."  I  sometimes  think  I  have  learned  a  little  of 
the  meaning  of  the  verse,  "  Without  me  ye  can  do 
nothing,"  and  I  would  r  iso  record  that  I  have 
proved  the  truth  of  that  other  one,  "  I  am  with 
you  alway,"  —  for  the  work  has  paid. 

I  went  to  Boise  City,  in  Idaho,  in  i87i,with  the 
intention  of  staying  indefinitely,  perhaps  a  life- 
time, but  Providence  indicated  plainly  that  I  ought 
to  leave  in  two  and  a  half  years.  When  I  came 
here,  it  was  only  -vith  the  intention  of  remaining 
two  or  three  months  on  a  visit.  The  same  Provi- 
dence has  kept  me  here  ten  years  and  I  am  now 
satisfied  that  his  plans  were  far  wiser  than  mine. 
So  "  man  proposes  and  God  disposes."  The  Chris- 
tians' future  and  the  Indians'  future  are  wisely  in 
the  same  hands. 


THE   END. 


